Governorates of Syria

Operation Euphrates Shield, the code name for Turkey's military operation in Northern Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), started well on Aug. 24 with minimal loss of life among Turkish soldiers and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies.

The Turkish military hit at least 80 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in northern Syria on Oct. 4 as part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, according to a military source.
In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said 80 ISIL targets had been hit with 199 rounds of Fırtına howitzer fire and 20 rounds of multiple rocket launchers.        

Syrian government forces and rebels fought battles north of Aleppo and in the city center on Sept. 30, a week into a Russian-backed offensive by the Syrian army to take the entire city, while the U.S. and Russia continued blaming each other over the situation in Syria. 

Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militants in the Manbij region were withdrawing east of the Euphrates River, Turkish government spokesperson Numan Kurtulmuş said on Sept. 26.

BELGRADE - Turkey's President Erdogan has accused the US of supplying arms to Kurds fighting against Islamic State in Syria. Erdogan equated the Kurdish forces with IS militants, and referred to previous cases when American weapons were seized by Islamists.

Turkey will not deploy its own infantry in Syria to retake the northern city of al-Bab from jihadists but it will use Ankara-backed Syrian rebels, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said Sept. 21. 

"Our current planning is that we will conduct the operation with fighters of the Free Syrian Army [FSA]. Thus, we do not plan to join this operation with our own infantries," Işık said. 

It has been nearly a month since Turkey and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) launched the Euphrates' Shield Operation, which is considered a successful military move given the results so far. 

Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Sept. 20 on the 28th day of the Euphrates Shield operation, as Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters advance near the al-Bab region with the support of U.S.-led coalition warplanes, Doğan News Agency has reported.

As U.S. Special Forces joined Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters along the Turkish border near Jarablus and al-Rai in Syria, Turkey-backed forces have continued advancing to the southern areas of northern Syria. 

U.S. special forces are accompanying Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters along the Turkish border near Jarabulus and al-Rai in Syria, the Pentagon told Anadolu Agency on Sept. 16.

The move came "at the request of the government of Turkey", according to agency spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis.