Turkey accuses IS of killing 30 civilians in Syria

Death toll from the battle for al-Bab rises as Ankara continues its most costly battle in Syria against the IS group.

2 min read

26 December, 2016

The IS group have put up stiff resistance in the battle for al-Bab [AFP]

Turkey's army on Monday accused the Islamic State group of killing at least 30 civilians who were fleeing the Syrian town of al-Bab, which Ankara and its rebel allies have been seeking to capture for weeks.

According to the military, the civilians were killed by mines and homemade bombs that detonated as they tried to make their way out of the town, Anadolu reported.

Since August, Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies have been fighting to dislodge the IS group from al-Bab as part of a broader campaign the clear the militants from the Syria-Turkey border.

Stiff resistance from IS, however, has slowed progress, with the highest number of casualties from the campaign having been afflicted in the fight for the flashpoint town.

The death toll from the operation, dubbed 'Euphrates Shield,' increased to 36 weekend after another wounded soldier died in hospital.

On Wednesday alone, 16 soldiers were killed by IS in the battle for al-Bab, marking Ankara's biggest loss so for far during the operation.

Turkey at the weekend deployed more tanks and artillery to the border and sent sent 500 elite commandos to al-Bab in readiness for a final fight for the town, reports said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the weekend the battle for al-Bab is nearly finished, reiterating Turkish forces would then head to Manbij, a former bastion of IS that is now under the control of US-backed, Kurdish-led militia.