Turkey: 14 Soldiers And 138 ISIS Gunmen Killed in Battle in Northern Syria

Clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and Islamic State gunmen intensified around the northern Syrian town of al-Bab in some of the deadliest fighting yet in Turkey’s nearly four-month-old “Euphrates Shield” operation in northern Syria. The military had said earlier that the rebel forces, which had been attacking Islamic State fighters in the area for weeks, had largely established control over the strategic area around the town’s hospital. Turkey continued with the operation even after its foreign minister, along with his Russian and Iranian counterparts , said they were ready to help broker a deal to end Syria’s almost six-year-old civil war. The talks came as Syrian government forces closed in on the last rebel held enclave in Aleppo. More than 25,000 civilians have recently fled the area, and it would mark a big victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.