Anti-Daesh coalition forces conducted airstrikes against Daesh terrorists' positions in northern Syria on early Monday following the latest rocket attacks that targeted Turkey's southeastern city of Kilis.
Turkey provided the coordinates for the airstrikes conducted around 1:00 a.m., in which many Daesh positions were destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Turkish military also conducted retaliatory strikes against Daesh terrorists since January 9, 2016. The Turkish army fired 5,330 artillery and mortar shells at Daesh positions, killing 370 terrorists, while the Turkish air force conducted 167 airstrikes against Daesh positions and killed 492 terrorists. Numerous vehicles, weapons and buildings were also destroyed in the strikes.
The rockets are believed to have been fired from the Daesh-controlled al-Bab town in northern Syria, where Daesh and Syrian opposition have been fighting to expand their control over the territory between the towns of Azaz and al-Rai since early April.
So far, 17 civilians, including 6 Syrian nationals, were killed as 45 rockets fell in Kilis city center, in addition to dozens injured.
The distance between Kilis city center and the Syrian border is less than four kilometers in some areas.
Occasional stray rockets and mortars land in southern and southeastern Turkey due to the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Kilis, which is home to large numbers of Syrian refugees exceeding its own population, has suffered repeatedly from cross-border shelling. The rockets have become an almost daily occasion in the small town where locals recently rallied for more security measures.
Under Turkey's rules of engagement, the military responds immediately by shelling Daesh positions in Syria.
