Battle of al-Bab

A missile strike targeting Turkish-controlled northern Syria wounded several civilians, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on early March 15, noting that Russia was notified to halt the firing.

Ballistic missiles fired from Syrian regime-controlled Kuweires airport in Aleppo have targeted civilian settlements and parking lots for fuel tankers in northern Jarablus and al-Bab districts, with civilian casualties reported, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said early on March 15.

Turkey dispatched 180 commandos to the Syrian city of Al-Bab on Nov. 30, the military stated.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebel groups clashed with government forces near a city in northern Syria that the rebels recently captured from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), sources on both sides said.

Turkey and Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels gained full control of Syria's al-Bab as part of the Euphrates Shield operation, the Turkish Armed Forces said Feb. 24, on a day in which two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the city, as dozens of others were also killed in a separate attack. 

Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide attack in Syria's al-Bab, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Feb. 24.  

Yıldırım said the suicide attack targeted Turkish soldiers who were conducting road checks at the entrance of al-Bab. 

Two soldiers were killed in the attack while there were also wounded soldiers, he said. 

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) car bomb attack killed at least 27 civilians and six Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters in northern Syria's strategic al-Bab area on Feb. 24, according to reliable sources from the region.    

Turkish armed forces and allied Syrian rebels have almost total control of the Syrian flashpoint town of al-Bab after entering the center of the former jihadist stronghold, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on Feb. 23. 

Al-Bab in northern Syria is almost under the full control of Turkey and Turkish-backed forces, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said Feb. 23. 

Earlier reports had suggested that the Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters seized central al-Bab on Feb. 23.

A total of 56 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were killed by Turkey-backed forces around the Syrian town of al-Bab and by U.S.-led coalition air strikes in the latest operations on Feb. 22, the Turkish military said on Feb. 23.