Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters resumed a major offensive inside the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab on Thursday, a day after they broke through IS defences in its remaining stronghold in Aleppo province.

A rebel commander in the Euphrates Shield forces said fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), working with Turkish commanders, were moving forward from territory near the western gates of the city they had stormed on Wednesday.

“The battles began a short while ago to complete what had been achieved yesterday,” said a commander of a leading FSA group fighting in al-Bab, who requested anonymity.

Northeast of al-Bab, they added, they also regained control of two key villages they had repeatedly been pushed out of in past fighting by a succession of suicide attacks.

The Turkish military said on Thursday they had killed 44 militants in aerial and artillery strikes and clashes in northern Syria.

The advance into al-Bab threatens an important Islamic State stronghold, whose fall would deepen Turkish influence in an area of northern Syria where it has created a de facto buffer zone.

Syrian government forces have also advanced on al-Bab from the south, bringing them close to their Turkish and rebel enemies in one of the most complex battlefields of the six-year-old conflict

But Turkey said international coordination was under way to prevent clashes with the Syrian forces.

Turkish commanders gave the green light for a large-scale push into al-Bab after the Syrian army and its allies made rapid gains that brought them to its southern outskirts, another rebel official told Reuters.

“Turkish commanders took a decision with us to speed the operation after the regime came too close to the city,” he said.

Al-Bab has been a major target of a Turkish offensive launched in northern Syria last August to drive Islamic State away from the border and prevent further gains by US-backed Kurdish militia that are also fighting the jihadist group.

The city is just 30km from the Turkish border.

Turkish forces and their allies have however faced fierce resistance from the militants, for whom the city has been a major source of funding and a major economic hub.</s>A Russian warplane “accidentally” hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey’s military said.

President Vladimir Putin promptly called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to express regrets over the friendly fire incident. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed his condolences over the “tragic incident.”

The Russian airstrike took place in the morning, near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters are trying to capture from the Islamic State group. News of the deaths came as Turkey was holding funerals for five Turkish soldiers killed in an IS attack near al-Bab the day before. The Turkish military said Turkey and Russia were conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of how complex the Syrian theatre of war has become, Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters and Syrian government allied troops briefly clashed on the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria.

It was the first such confrontation since the Turkey-backed offensive began in northern Syria last August. Thursday’s clashes came despite Ankara’s remarks the previous day that it was in talks with Moscow to co-ordinate troop movements and avoid any encounter with the Syrian military in the fighting around the IS-held town.

Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey’s downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago. In late December, the two countries brokered a cease-fire for Syria and in January they sponsored peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad’s government officials attended that gathering.

Thursday’s airstrike deaths raise the number of Turkish troops killed in Turkey’s operation in Syria to 64.

Syria’s opposition-run Thiqa news agency, which covers Syrian opposition fighters in the offensive on al-Bab, told The Associated Press that a sniper opened fire on the Turkey-backed forces advancing on the western edge of al-Bab, sparking clashes that wounded several fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were fierce around the southwestern edge of al-Bab, where the government troops made a significant advance on Thursday.

The Turkey-backed opposition fighters have also made a significant push into al-Bab, seizing a strategic hill on the town’s western edge. There was no immediate comment from Damascus on the reported clashes between the government troops and the opposition fighters.

A Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire, in place since Dec. 30, has excluded areas where militant factions, the Islamic State group and Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, operate or hold ground.

Syrian government troops and allied militias, as well Turkish troops, the U.S-led international coalition, and Russia have been going after IS in different parts of the country.

The push has lately focused on the IS-held town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. Syrian government forces and their allies have been pushing from the south, aided by Russian airstrikes

On Thursday, government troops seized a village south of al-Bab, bringing them less than 3 kilometres (1.5 miles) from the town, according to opposition monitors.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops, backing Syrian opposition fighters, have pushed their way from the western part of the town, entering the outskirts of al-Bab. The two advances have effectively encircled the militant group, which had set up strong fortifications around al-Bab.

Another fight against IS is raging in east and northeast Syria, where Kurdish troops, backed by the United States, are advancing against the IS in the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa. Meanwhile, government forces are battling an IS offensive in Deir al-Zour and another one in the central Homs province, around the ancient town of Palmyra.

In other developments in Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross said a suspected rebel mortar attack that hit a Red Crescent distribution centre in the government-held city of Aleppo Wednesday killed a volunteer and two civilians.

The attack in the Hamadaniya neighbourhood also wounded seven other volunteers. The Observatory said there were also other mortar rounds that hit security checkpoints in the area. Syria’s state news agency said mortar shells also hit other buildings in the neighbourhood.

After years of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces drove the rebels out of eastern Aleppo in December, but the opposition still holds some areas on the city’s outskirts. Fighting has continued around Aleppo and in other parts of Syria despite a Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire.

Violence has also beset rebel- and opposition-held areas, including in Homs, where at least nine civilians were killed in suspected Russian or government airstrikes on Wednesday. The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, told the AP that three people were killed when an explosive device was detonated in the city on Thursday.</s>Following the Turkish military accusing the Syrian air force of striking its soldiers in the Al-Bab Plateau of east Aleppo yesterday, the Kremlin has announced that it was responsible for the accidental attack.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Sputnik that Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayiip Erdogan over an accidental Russian airstrike that had killed Turkish soldiers in Syria.

In addition to the announcement by Peskov, the Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed the accidental strike against the Turkish forces.

The strike resulted in the death of three Turkish soldiers and a further 11 wounded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to his Turkish counterpart Erdogan, the Kremlin said earlier.

Despite this set back, they both agreed to continue their operations against ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria.

 Read more

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Recip Erdogan on Thursday agreed to bolster military coordination in Syria, the Kremlin said, after a Russian strike killed three Turkish soldiers.

“Putin expressed condolences over the tragic incident that caused the death of several Turkish servicemen in the area of the town of Al-Bab,” the Kremlin said after the two leaders spoke by phone.

“It was agreed to enhance military coordination in the course of the operation in Syria against ISIL fighters and other extremist organizations,” the statement said.

The Kremlin statement — which came before Turkey announced the deadly incident — did not mention explicitly that Russian firepower was to blame.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the Russian strike took place on Thursday morning and said that it was due to a “lack of agreement of coordinates during strikes by the Russian air force.”

Russia’s defense ministry said that Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov also called his Turkish counterpart to offer condolences over the “accidental” strike by a Russian jet.

“Russian jets were carrying out a military mission to destroy ISIL positions in the area of Al-Bab,” a defense ministry statement said.

The two military chiefs “agreed on closer coordination of joint actions and also the exchange of information about the situation on the ground,” it said.

Syrian Army attacks and sweeps Daesh positions near Al-Bab ~ [East of Aleppo province]

The advance of the Syrian army on Daesh positions in the east of Aleppo province caught the terrorists by surprise. Sputnik Arabic reports that the Syrian infantry successfully overcame three barrier boundaries which were put up by Daesh on the outskirts of al-Bab. ~ Read more
• Syrian Army attacks and sweeps Daesh positions near Al-Bab ~ [East of Aleppo province]</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, the Turkish army destroyed 154 Daesh targets, including shelters, defense positions, command centers, weapons, and vehicles, in the town of al-Bab.

The Turkish military operation in Syria's al-Bab has entered the final stage. Turkey's units entered central Al-Bab, the operation is being conducted in coordination with Russia to prevent clashes with Syrian government forces.

Turkey is currently conducting an operation in Syria dubbed Euphrates Shield. On August 24, Turkish forces, supported by Free Syrian Army rebels and US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed the Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area from Daesh terrorist group. As Jarabulus was retaken, the joint forces of Ankara, the coalition and Syrian rebels continued the operation to gain control over al-Bab in the Aleppo province.

Moreover, Russian and Turkish military jets have repeatedly jointly bombed Daesh targets near al-Bab in Syria. Al-Bab is one of Daesh’s last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories.</s>A Russian airstrike accidentally killed three and wounded 11 Turkish soldiers on Thursday, Anadolu agency reports.

President Putin called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express his condolences for what the Kremlin later said was a “tragic” incident. The Russian Chief of General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, followed with a phone call to Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar.

The Russian jet fighter was operating against IS in the mostly IS-controlled Al-Bab region of northern Syria, where Turkish troops are advancing with the support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Russia is playing a coordinating role, liaising between Turkey and the Assad regime.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Putin on Thursday informed the Russian Security Council meeting participants about his conversation with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the Syrian settlement with them, Peskov said.

"President Putin informed the meeting participants about the recent telephone conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, said in particular that he expressed condolences to his Turkish counterpart over the fact that early this morning Turkish soldiers had been killed as a result of lack of coordination of coordinates during Russian Aerospace Forces' airstrikes on terrorists during a joint operation to liberate al-Bab," Peskov said.

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin spokesman confirmed to Sputnik that Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over an accidental Russian airstrike that had killed Turkish soldiers in Syria. Peskov said that Russia and Turkey will jointly investigate the deadly incident.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish General Staff said that an accidental Russian airstrike killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others in northern Syria.

The Russian Defense Ministry has also confirmed the unintentional strike, killing Turkish servicemen in Syria. The ministry said that Russian bombers had been on a mission to destroy Daesh terrorists' positions near al-Bab, where Turkish soldiers had been accidentally bombed.

The news comes as the Turkish military operation in Syria's al-Bab has entered the final stage. Turkey's units entered central al-Bab, the operation is being conducted in coordination with Russia to prevent clashes with Syrian government forces.

Russian and Turkish military jets have repeatedly jointly bombed Daesh targets near al-Bab in Syria. Al-Bab is one of Daesh’s last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories.</s>A Russian warplane “accidentally” hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey’s military said.

President Vladimir Putin promptly called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to express regrets over the friendly fire incident. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed his condolences over the “tragic incident.”

The Russian airstrike took place in the morning, near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters are trying to capture from the Islamic State group. News of the deaths came as Turkey was holding funerals for five Turkish soldiers killed in an IS attack near al-Bab the day before. The Turkish military said Turkey and Russia were conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of how complex the Syrian theater of war has become, Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters and Syrian government allied troops briefly clashed on the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria.

It was the first such confrontation since the Turkey-backed offensive began in northern Syria last August. Thursday’s clashes came despite Ankara’s remarks the previous day that it was in talks with Moscow to coordinate troop movements and avoid any encounter with the Syrian military in the fighting around the IS-held town.

Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey’s downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago. In late December, the two countries brokered a cease-fire for Syria and in January they sponsored peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad’s government officials attended that gathering.

Thursday’s airstrike deaths raise the number of Turkish troops killed in Turkey’s operation in Syria to 64.

Syria’s opposition-run Thiqa news agency, which covers Syrian opposition fighters in the offensive on al-Bab, told The Associated Press that a sniper opened fire on the Turkey-backed forces advancing on the western edge of al-Bab, sparking clashes that wounded several fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were fierce around the southwestern edge of al-Bab, where the government troops made a significant advance on Thursday.

The Turkey-backed opposition fighters have also made a significant push into al-Bab, seizing a strategic hill on the town’s western edge. There was no immediate comment from Damascus on the reported clashes between the government troops and the opposition fighters.

A Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire, in place since Dec. 30, has excluded areas where militant factions, the Islamic State group and Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, operate or hold ground.

Syrian government troops and allied militias, as well Turkish troops, the U.S-led international coalition, and Russia have been going after IS in different parts of the country.

The push has lately focused on the IS-held town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. Syrian government forces and their allies have been pushing from the south, aided by Russian airstrikes

On Thursday, government troops seized a village south of al-Bab, bringing them less than 3 km (1.5 miles) from the town, according to opposition monitors.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops, backing Syrian opposition fighters, have pushed their way from the western part of the town, entering the outskirts of al-Bab. The two advances have effectively encircled the militant group, which had set up strong fortifications around al-Bab.

Another fight against IS is raging in east and northeast Syria, where Kurdish troops, backed by the United States, are advancing against the IS in the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa. Meanwhile, government forces are battling an IS offensive in Deir al-Zour and another one in the central Homs province, around the ancient town of Palmyra.

In other developments in Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross said a suspected rebel mortar attack that hit a Red Crescent distribution center in the government-held city of Aleppo Wednesday killed a volunteer and two civilians.

The attack in the Hamadaniya neighborhood also wounded seven other volunteers. The Observatory said there were also other mortar rounds that hit security checkpoints in the area. Syria’s state news agency said mortar shells also hit other buildings in the neighborhood.

After years of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces drove the rebels out of eastern Aleppo in December, but the opposition still holds some areas on the city’s outskirts. Fighting has continued around Aleppo and in other parts of Syria despite a Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire.

Violence has also beset rebel- and opposition-held areas, including in Homs, where at least nine civilians were killed in suspected Russian or government airstrikes on Wednesday. The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, told the AP that three people were killed when an explosive device was detonated in the city on Thursday.</s>ANKARA, Turkey — A Russian warplane "accidentally" hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey's military said.

President Vladimir Putin promptly called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to express regrets over the friendly fire incident. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed his condolences over the "tragic incident."

The Russian airstrike took place in the morning, near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters are trying to capture from the Islamic State group. News of the deaths came as Turkey was holding funerals for five Turkish soldiers killed in an IS attack near al-Bab the day before. The Turkish military said Turkey and Russia were conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of how complex the Syrian theater of war has become, Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters and Syrian government allied troops briefly clashed on the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria.

It was the first such confrontation since the Turkey-backed offensive began in northern Syria last August. Thursday's clashes came despite Ankara's remarks the previous day that it was in talks with Moscow to coordinate troop movements and avoid any encounter with the Syrian military in the fighting around the IS-held town.

Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey's downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago. In late December, the two countries brokered a cease-fire for Syria and in January they sponsored peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's government officials attended that gathering.

Thursday's airstrike deaths raise the number of Turkish troops killed in Turkey's operation in Syria to 64.

Syria's opposition-run Thiqa news agency, which covers Syrian opposition fighters in the offensive on al-Bab, told The Associated Press that a sniper opened fire on the Turkey-backed forces advancing on the western edge of al-Bab, sparking clashes that wounded several fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were fierce around the southwestern edge of al-Bab, where the government troops made a significant advance on Thursday.

The Turkey-backed opposition fighters have also made a significant push into al-Bab, seizing a strategic hill on the town's western edge. There was no immediate comment from Damascus on the reported clashes between the government troops and the opposition fighters.

A Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire, in place since Dec. 30, has excluded areas where militant factions, the Islamic State group and Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, operate or hold ground.

Syrian government troops and allied militias, as well Turkish troops, the U.S-led international coalition, and Russia have been going after IS in different parts of the country.

The push has lately focused on the IS-held town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. Syrian government forces and their allies have been pushing from the south, aided by Russian airstrikes

On Thursday, government troops seized a village south of al-Bab, bringing them less than 3 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the town, according to opposition monitors.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops, backing Syrian opposition fighters, have pushed their way from the western part of the town, entering the outskirts of al-Bab. The two advances have effectively encircled the militant group, which had set up strong fortifications around al-Bab.

Another fight against IS is raging in east and northeast Syria, where Kurdish troops, backed by the United States, are advancing against the IS in the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa. Meanwhile, government forces are battling an IS offensive in Deir al-Zour and another one in the central Homs province, around the ancient town of Palmyra.

In other developments in Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross said a suspected rebel mortar attack that hit a Red Crescent distribution center in the government-held city of Aleppo Wednesday killed a volunteer and two civilians.

The attack in the Hamadaniya neighborhood also wounded seven other volunteers. The Observatory said there were also other mortar rounds that hit security checkpoints in the area. Syria's state news agency said mortar shells also hit other buildings in the neighborhood.

After years of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces drove the rebels out of eastern Aleppo in December, but the opposition still holds some areas on the city's outskirts. Fighting has continued around Aleppo and in other parts of Syria despite a Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire.

Violence has also beset rebel- and opposition-held areas, including in Homs, where at least nine civilians were killed in suspected Russian or government airstrikes on Wednesday. The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, told the AP that three people were killed when an explosive device was detonated in the city on Thursday.

El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.</s>Peskov said that Russia and Turkey will jointly investigate the deadly incident. The Kremlin spokesman said that Putin told Erdogan that Turkish soldiers had died as a result of lack of coordination regarding coordinates during Russian military jets' strikes in Syria.

Russia and Turkey will improve coordination of activities in Syria after the unintentional strike, Peskov said.

"President Putin informed… about the recent telephone conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, said that he expressed condolences to the Turkish counterpart over the fact that early this morning as a result of non-coordination of coordinates Turkish soldiers had been killed during a joint operation to liberate al-Bab by Russian Aerospace Forces' airstrikes," Peskov said.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish General Staff said that an accidental Russian airstrike killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others in northern Syria.

"Today, around 08.40, during airstrikes against Daesh targets [in Syria], Russian combat planes accidentally hit a building hosting Turkish servicemen taking part in Euphrates Shield operation. As a result, three Turkish soldiers were killed, 11 were wounded, including one seriously," the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry has also confirmed the unintentional strike, killing Turkish servicemen in Syria. The ministry said that Russian bombers had been on a mission to destroy Daesh terrorists' positions near al-Bab, where Turkish soldiers had been accidentally bombed.

"Russian bombers have been carrying out a combat mission destroying Daesh positions in al-Bab area. The chiefs of the [Russian and Turkish] general staffs agreed to closer coordinate joint actions and exchange information about the situation on the ground."

Chief of the Russian General Staff General Valery Gerasimov held telephone talks with his Turkish counterpart, during which the issues of the fight against international terrorist groups in Syria and the situation in the northeast of the province of Aleppo were discussed.

"Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Army General Valery Gerasimov expressed condolences to [Turkish] General Hulusi Akar in connection with the death of three Turkish soldiers operating in the area of ​​the city of al-Bab as a result of unintentional strike by a Russian aircraft."

The news comes as the Turkish military operation in Syria's al-Bab has entered the final stage. Turkey's units entered central al-Bab, the operation is being conducted in coordination with Russia to prevent clashes with Syrian government forces.

Russian and Turkish military jets have repeatedly jointly bombed Daesh targets near al-Bab in Syria. Al-Bab is one of Daesh’s last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories.</s>ANKARA (Sputnik) — On August 24, the Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield against the internationally-condemned jihadist group Daesh. Turkish forces, with assistance from Syrian opposition fighters, occupied the city of Jarablus in northern Syria and are currently conducting an offensive on al-Bab.

"Our units have entered central [al-]Bab. To avoid clashes with the Syrian army, we are in coordination with Russia," Kalin said in comments broadcast by NTV.

​The spokesman added that an area between the cities of Azaz and Jarabulus should be cleared from the outlawed Daesh jihadist group in order to establish a safe zone.

Kalin said the Turkish armed forces would next target the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa once the operation in al-Bab is completed.
At least three soldiers of the Turkish Armed Forces are accidentally killed by a Russian airstrike near al-Bab in northern Syria.