Turkey: 14 Turkish soldiers in Syria dead in one day

The heaviest losses so far

The Turkish army lost 14 soldiers and 33 more were wounded in a fierce battle against the Islamic State in Syria. The incident took place in the town of Al-Bab.

It is the Turkish military’s biggest loss in a single day since launching operation “Eurates Shiled” in August.
According to the Turkish army announcement, IS used multiple suicide bombs, with 138 IS fighters ending up dead.

Al-bab is 20km from the Turkish borders and is a major target for Turkey since Aleppo has fallen to the hands of the government forces. Turkey is fighting both IS and Kurdish forces in a three-front war.

It is still not clear what the Turkish intentions are, with the greatest question being how far inside Syria they are willing to advance.