Free Republic

The Turkish army has dispatched military equipment and vehicles into Syria. The invading Turkish army has dispatched military vehicles and trucks loaded with tanks, howitzers and ammunition into Syrian soil through al-Bab al-Hawa Border Gate. Photo taken by a witness on the route of the Turkish truck convoy shows the shipment of Turkish tanks into Syria.

Hesen Heci Musa al-Ali who doesn't leave his village Boxaz despite the Turkish state’s attacks on Manbij and al-Bab said: “I won’t let this place go, even if it costs me my life.” Provocative attacks by the Turkish state and their allied gangs on villages of eastern al-Bab and western Manbij continue. Tank and howitzer fire tears down homes and animals perish. The people seek refuge in safe zones, but there is one man who, along with his wife, 2 children and 5 grandchildren, continues his life in the Boxaz village under control of al-Bab Military Council fighters amid tank...

The armed groups of TSK and ÖSO were in the world media as well as in the Arab press, as last week's control in El Bab was in the world media. Rai Al Youm newspaper said, "Erdogan does not intend to withdraw from El Bab if it is not forced and to leave the city to Syrian domination." Turkey's entry into the center of El Bab city under the Euphrates' Operation and control of the city was one of the most important agenda items of the Arab press this week. Four of the negotiations in Geneva to find a political...

A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab Friday, killing 42 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from ISIS. The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, five miles northeast of Al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The blast devastated the twin command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

The Pentagon’s top military officer on Thursday underlined that one of the complex challenges the US will face in the future is how to navigate the animosity between the two key US allies in Syria: Turkey and the Syrian Kurds.It comes as the Trump administration debates plans for an increased military campaign against ISIS and future operations to oust ISIS from Raqqa.The Turkish government has suggested that the Kurds should be excluded from the Raqqa operation, while the Kurds argue that Turkey should not play a role in northern Syria and consider Turkish intervention as occupation of Syrian territory.The US military...

The Turkish Army forces and allied rebels in Syria captured the town of al-Bab on Thursday after a deal with ISIS to withdraw, in an operation that since the 13th of November killed at least 444 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported. The Turkish-led Euphrates Shield campaign arrived near the city of Bab on 13 November and finished its goals after a campaign that lasted over 3.5 months.Already in January, the Turkish army claimed ISIS would withdraw from al-Bab.After the Turkish-backed rebels controlled 50 per cent of al-Bab city, a deal was reached with ISIS, leading to...

Following Turkey’s path in the war against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria is extremely confusing. One cannot even rely on high-level officials’ statements regarding developments on the ground. For instance, Gen. Hulusi Akar, chief of general staff, is the highest Turkish official in uniform. As he was traveling Feb. 15 with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Qatar, Akar announced that the operation in al-Bab was over. He said Turkish forces and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies had retaken the town. There was every reason to believe the statement, since it was a military matter and the statement came...

Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operation, which entered its 170th day Feb. 11 having seen the loss of 65 Turkish soldiers, is at its most critical juncture. In an operation launched the night of Feb. 7 from Aqil Hill, a dominating feature west of al-Bab, about 1,300 Turkish troops (700 commandos, 400 tank personnel and about 200 special forces) and nearly 2,000 Free Syrian Army fighters took part. Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed in the operation. Security sources told Al-Monitor that about 800 Islamic State (IS) militants and 10,000 civilians are still in the town center of al-Bab. IS uses these civilians as "live shields," and the Turkish army...

Three Turkish soldiers have been killed and 10 wounded in an attack in Syria, but reports differ about what happened.