Intensified Clashes Between Turkey-Supported Militias and ISIS in Northern Syria

The Turkish army reported on Sunday, October 10, that 31 members of the Islamic State (ISIS) were killed in clashes in northern Syria and as a result of airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition in the past 24 hours. Reuters reports that 14 ISIS militants were killed by Turkey-backed militias while attempting to enter two villages near the town of Dabiq in northwestern Syria. The Turkish army also announced that during the same period, 17 ISIS militants were killed due to airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. Two Turkey-backed Syrian rebels were also killed in these battles, and 19 others were injured. Groups of Syrian rebels opposing the government, who are also fighting against ISIS, have advanced into ISIS-controlled areas in recent weeks with the support of Turkish army aircraft and tanks. The Turkey-backed rebels are currently trying to capture the city of Dabiq in northern Aleppo. Since September 2016, units of the Turkish army and militias supported by this country have entered northern Syria. Turkey has declared its aim to 'cleanse' the border areas of northern Syria that are adjacent to its territory. Ankara simultaneously targets both the Islamic State (ISIS) and Kurdish militias in its attacks. On Sunday, it was also reported that 18 Turkish soldiers were killed and 20 others injured due to a bomb explosion in a vehicle at a gendarmerie post in eastern Turkey. This explosion occurred at the Durak post, 20 kilometers from the city of Şemdinli in Hakkari province, near the Turkish border with Iran and Iraq; the perpetrator of this explosion is still unknown.