Turkey pledges to fight in Syria until 'all terrorists are routed'
Turkey launched a military operation in Syria to clear their border area of Islamic State militants and Kurdish militia fighters
A Turkish tank during clashes with IS in Syria (AFP)
Published date: 12 September 2016 10:02 BST
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Last update: 8 years 2 months ago
Turkey's top army chief on Monday said the offensive in neighbouring Syria would continue until the country's borders were completely secured and "all terrorists" were routed.
"Our security forces have fought and will continue to fight shoulder-to-shoulder until all terrorists are routed, and our borders are secured," Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar said in remarks carried by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Akar spoke after visiting troops in the Turkish border town of Karkamis that lies opposite the Syrian town of Jarabulus which was liberated from Islamic State (IS) militants last month by Ankara-backed Syrian opposition fighters.
On 24 August, Turkey launched an ambitious campaign inside Syria dubbed "Euphrates Shield", sending in tanks and special forces to support opposition fighters in a bid to remove IS and Kurdish militia forces from its frontier.
Several Turkish soldiers have been killed by IS rocket attacks in northern Syria this month, and Turkey blamed the death of another soldier last month on an attack by Kurdish militiamen.
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