The Turkish military has launched strikes against the terrorist group Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State, as well as the Kurdish YPG in northern Syria, according to NTV.
The howitzer shelling has struck Daesh targets near Jarablus and Kurdish YPG forces north of Manbij.
Turkish officials say that the strikes are aimed at opening a corridor for an “operation.”
Earlier on Monday, Ankara had vowed to “completely cleanse” militants from its border region in the wake of the suicide bombing attack that left over 54 people dead at a wedding over the weekend. “Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a news conference.
A senior rebel official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were preparing to seize the border town of Jarablus from Daesh. Ahead of the shelling, roughly ten Turkish tanks were seen moving toward the border gate near Jarablus.
The suicide attack took place in the southeastern city of Gaziantep on Saturday, and the suspect is believed to have been between the ages of 12 and 14. The deadliest attack in Turkey this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said initial evidence points to Daesh.
Related reading:
People’s Democratic Party condemns bombing of Kurdish wedding in Gaziantep, Turkey that killed 53 people, Statement by the Central Executive Board of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), August 21, 2016
Note by New Cold War.org:
Approximately half of the victims of the terrorist bombing against the Kurdish population in Gaziantep, eastern Turkey on August 20 were children.
Democratic forces in Turkey, including Kurds, are staging protests and claiming there is collaboration between the Turkish government and police with right-wing extremists such as ISIS. But this side of the bombing tragedy is being carefully scrubbed from Western media outlets in their reports. Instead, they report as good coin the statements by the Turkish president and other leaders that they are resolved to fight ISIS-style terrorism. A headline in an August 21 Reuters news story is typical of the scrubbing: ‘Turkey vows to cleanse Islamic State from its border after wedding attack kills 54‘.
A similar whitewashing report in The Guardian is headlined, ‘Erdoğan blames Isis for suspected suicide attack at wedding in Turkey’. It reads, “Speaking on television, the deputy prime minister, Mehmet Şimşek, said: ‘This was a barbaric attack. It appears to be a suicide attack. All terror groups, the PKK, Daesh, the [Gülen movement] are targeting Turkey. But God willing, we will overcome.’ “
The quick claim by the Turkish government of who was behind the bombing in Gaziantep raises the obvious questions of how does it know, what did it know in advance, and what was done in advance with the information? But Western media does not ask such uncomfortable questions of its NATO friend and ally in Turkey.
