A rocket attack by ISIS militants in northern Syria caused symptoms of “chemical gas” in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited the Turkish armed forces as saying on Sunday.



The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have been besieging the ISIS-controlled town of al-Bab for days. Al-Bab is a major target in the “Euphrates Shield” operation to push the extremists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.



The Turkish military said the rocket attack was in Syria’s Haliliye area, according to state-run Anadolu agency. It did not specify when the attack occurred.



Media reports said Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams had conducted various tests on the affected rebels for traces of chemical materials at a hospital in Turkey’s border province of Kilis.

Last Update: Sunday, 27 November 2016 KSA 11:16 - GMT 08:16</s>BEIRUT -- A Syrian official blasted Turkey on Saturday, saying Turkey is to blame for sending its soldiers to their deaths in Syria, as the Syrian army said troops captured a neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo.

The comments by Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, were the first by a Syrian official since Thursday, when three Turkish soldiers were killed in northern Syria in what the Turkish military said was a pre-dawn Syrian airstrike. The account was disputed by Syrian activists who said the soldiers were killed by a suicide attack by the Islamic State extremist group the day before.

Since then two more Turkish soldiers have been killed in the past two days in fighting near the town of al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold.

"Turkish policies are responsible for the tension in Turkish-Syrian relations," Mekdad told the Lebanon-based Pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV. He added that Turkey took part in sending foreign fighters into Syria and armed them "in order to destroy Syria and Syrians."

Mekdad did not confirm or deny whether Syrian aircraft were behind the attack that killed the three Turkish soldiers but said that "if the Turks want to complain they should complain to themselves. What happened was inside the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic."

Since Syria's crisis began in March 2011, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has been a strong supporter of Syrian rebels trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

Turkey sent ground troops into northern Syria in August to help Syrian opposition fighters battle both the Islamic State and U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, which Ankara sees as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

The Turkish troops are not fighting Syrian government forces, though Damascus has strongly objected to the military intervention.

On Saturday, Turkey's state-run news agency said a Turkish soldier was killed and three were wounded in an attack during an anti-Islamic State operation in northern Syria, raising to five the number of Turkish troops killed in Syria last week. It said the dead and wounded soldiers were returned to Turkey.

The rising Turkish-Syrian tension came as Syrian troops captured Aleppo's Hanano district days after government forces and their allies opened an offensive involving deadly street battles in the area.

The army said troops "have seized full control" of the eastern district in Syria's largest city.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops now control most of the district, adding that Hanano was the first Aleppo neighborhood to fall into the hands of rebels in 2012.

Syrian state media said rebel shelling of west Aleppo killed three people and wounded 15, adding that about 150 residents of east Aleppo were able to leave the besieged area of 275,000 people on Saturday.

The Observatory said that since the government offensive resumed on east Aleppo on Nov. 15, 357 people have been killed in the city and in nearby villages and towns.

The Observatory also reported that deals have been reached to evacuate fighters from the Tal and Khan al-Shih suburbs of the capital, Damascus. It said hundreds of fighters from both suburbs will be evacuated to the northwestern province of Idlib, a rebel stronghold.

The two areas have been subjected to government attacks for weeks.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said a U.S. sailor who died in Syria on Thanksgiving was from northern Virginia and was a member of a bomb-disposal unit.

The Defense Department identified the sailor Friday as Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton. He was 42 years old and lived in Woodbridge, Va.

Dayton was killed by an improvised bomb Thursday in northern Syria. He was part of a multinational force fighting the Islamic State in the region.

Dayton was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Two, based in Virginia Beach.

Information for this article was contributed by Cinar Kiper and Albert Aji of The Associated Press.</s>The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab for days. Al-Bab is a major target in the "Euphrates Shield" operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

The Turkish military said the rocket attack was in Syria's Haliliye area, according to state-run Anadolu agency. It did not specify when the attack occurred.

Media reports said Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams had conducted various tests on the affected rebels for traces of chemical materials at a hospital in Turkey's border province of Kilis. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Louise Ireland)</s>The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have for days been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab, a major goal in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

According to the state-run Anadolu agency, the Islamic State rocket attack occurred in the Haliliye area. The army did not specify where the attack had taken place.

"Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh," media reports quoted the army statement as saying, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

The rebels were transferred to a hospital in Turkey's border province of Kilis on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches, Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website.

Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams conducted various tests on them to check for traces of chemical, other media reported.

In the last 24 hours around al-Bab, Turkish jets have destroyed four Islamic State targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel has been killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the military said.

On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria which the army said it believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.

After the air strike, Dogan news agency said on Saturday Turkey deployed low-altitude air defense systems with Stinger missiles to Gaziantep province on its Syrian border.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late on Saturday about "Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo", sources in Erdogan's office said.

Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.

Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by November's jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past.</s>A fighter from the Syrian pro-government forces mans a riffle inside a damaged house in the recently recaptured village of Joubah during an offensive towards the area of Al Bab in Aleppo province on Friday (AFP photo)

ISTANBUL — The Daesh terror group militants have fired a rocket in northern Syria that caused symptoms of “chemical gas” exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited Turkey’s military as saying on Sunday.

The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have for days been besieging Daesh-controlled town of Al Bab, a major goal in Ankara’s “Euphrates Shield” operation to push the extremists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

According to the state-run Anadolu agency, the Daesh rocket attack occurred in the Haliliye area. The army did not specify where the attack had taken place.

“Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh,” media reports quoted the army statement as saying.

The rebels were transferred to a hospital in Turkey’s border province of Kilis on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches, Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website.

Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams conducted various tests on them to check for traces of chemical, other media reported.

In the last 24 hours around Al Bab, Turkish jets have destroyed four Daesh targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel has been killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the military said.

On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria, which the army said it believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.

After the air strike, Dogan news agency said on Saturday Turkey deployed low-altitude air defence systems with Stinger missiles to Gaziantep province on its Syrian border.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late on Saturday about “Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo”, sources in Erdogan’s office said.

Russia is Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.

Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by November’s jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past.</s>A Turkish F-16 fighter jet takes off from Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, July 27, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes destroyed 12 Islamic State targets while one Turkish soldier was killed in a clash with militants during an offensive in northern Syria, Turkey's military said on Saturday.

Turkey and Syrian rebels are carrying out an operation to push the jihadists from the border after an air strike on Thursday killed three Turkish soldiers. The Turkish military believes the strike was carried out by the Syrian air force.

President Tayyip Erdogan discussed that attack with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer, while Turkey backs the rebels fighting to oust him.

The latest Turkish air strikes and clash occurred over the last 24 hours in a Turkey-backed operation by Syrian rebels, dubbed Euphrates Shield, to drive both the jihadists and a Kurdish militia away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

The Turkish solder was killed in a clash as Syrian rebels gained control of northern Syria's Anifah district, the armed forces said in a daily statement on the operation.

State-run Anadolu agency said three Turkish soldiers were also wounded in the clash. The death toll of Turkish soldiers in the Euphrates Shield operation, launched on August 24, is 18.

The killing of the Turkish soldiers on Thursday - the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria - raised fears of an escalation in an already complex battlefield.

Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by the jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past.</s>Syrian rebels were hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State (IS) jihadists in northern Syria, the Turkish army said on Sunday.

"After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria.

Turkish media said that the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said that the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The Syrians were brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are currently undergoing treatment.

Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence.

In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.

With Turkish support, they are now pressing to take Al Bab from the jihadists in an advance that appears to be taking more time and encountering greater opposition.</s>THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Member states of the world's chemical weapons watchdog on Monday slammed Syria for using poison gas during its civil war and for repeatedly failing to fully explain the scope of its chemical weapons program.

A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has concluded that Syrian government forces were behind three attacks involving chlorine gas and the Islamic State extremist group was responsible for one involving mustard gas. Syria denies using chemicals as weapons.

"For the first time in the convention's 19-year history, a state party has been found to have violated the treaty's most fundamental tenet," Canadian representative Sabine Noelke said, referring to the Chemical Weapons Convention that banned such weapons and established the OPCW.

The convention and the organization that polices it have been seen as disarmament success stories - the OPCW won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize - but repeated reports of the use of chemicals as weapons during the Syrian crisis are casting a shadow over that success.

Australia's ambassador to the Netherlands, Brett Mason, told the annual Conference of the States Parties of the OPCW that chemical attacks in Syria are "the most serious violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in its history" and urged the meeting to take action.

Syria's "flagrant and repeated violations of its basic obligations under our convention cannot be met with silence or excuses by this conference," Mason said.

Syria's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal Mekdad rejected the criticism, calling repeated reports of his country's use of chemicals as weapons "part of a coordinated and repeated campaign of lies."

Damascus also faced repeated criticism at Monday's meeting for failing to answer questions about gaps and discrepancies in the declaration it made when it joined the OPCW in 2013 about the extent of its stockpile and chemical weapons program.

"The extent of the gaps in Syria's declaration combined with its willingness to use toxic chemicals as weapons leave substantial grounds for concern that Syria has retained elements of its stockpile and is prepared to use them," said British representative Geoffrey Adams.

The debate was scheduled to continue Tuesday.
Turkish Armed Forces claim that an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant rocket attack on Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces caused symptoms of chemical weapons in 22 soldiers.