Free Syrian Army

Turkey will advance to Manbij and Raqqa in Syria if Ankara reaches a consensus with coalition forces, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said Feb. 13. 

One Turkish soldier was killed, four soldiers were wounded in an Islamic State Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack during the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria on Feb. 13, according to a statement from Turkish Armed Forces.

There are two weak links lying behind the delay in advancing the al-Bab operation. 

Turkish troops will not remain in Syria once the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is defeated and they will leave the lands to their "true owners," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, while vowing to advance the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation to Raqqa after al-Bab.

Turkish troops will not remain in Syria once the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is defeated and they will leave the lands to their "true owners," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, while vowing to advance the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation to Raqqa after al-Bab.

One Turkish soldier was killed, one other was wounded due to an Islamic State Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack during the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria on Feb. 11, according to a statement from Turkish Armed Forces.

At least 43 Islamic State Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were "neutralized" in northern Syria in the last 24 hours as part of the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield, according to a Turkish General Staff statement released early on Feb. 11. 

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply the terrorist in question was either killed or captured. 

* A Russian war plane that took off from the Hmeymim air base in Syria hit a building southwest of the Syrian town of Al-Bab at around 08.40 a.m. on Feb. 9. 

Multiple things are happening at the same time in the Syrian theater. In the last week, Turkish troops and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) made important progress in their offensive on al-Bab in a bid to capture the city from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists.

I started the day with a question from a colleague about the situation in al-Bab. I have also been looking for an answer for days during talks with generals, ambassadors and representatives of the groups in the field.