Seven ISIL militants killed in Turkish, coalition strikes

Seven ISIL militants killed in Turkish, coalition strikes

KİLİS – Doğan News Agency
Seven ISIL militants killed in Turkish, coalition strikes

AFP photo

Seven militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who were preparing to stage a rocket attack on Turkey, were killed on June 5 in Turkish shelling and airstrikes by the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition, according to military sources.

Radars on the border detected ISIL militants in the Kaferve and Kalbayn regions of northern Syria as they were preparing for a rocket attack targeting the country’s southeast.

Turkish artillery units shelled ISIL targets across the border while the U.S.-led coalition warplanes conducted two separate airstrikes targeting the region.

According to initial examinations, seven ISIL militants were killed along with their weapon systems ready for attack.

A hardened defense site belonging to the jihadist group was also destroyed.

Since mid-January, ISIL militants have been targeting Turkish towns and cities on the Syrian border, especially Kilis, with indiscriminate rocket fire.

Since then ISIL’s rocket attacks have claimed the lives of 21 people in Kilis, including eight Syrians.

Recently, five people were injured on May 27 when ISIL militants conducted a rocket attack targeting Kilis, 20 days after the last such attack by the jihadist group targeting the province.