A video purportedly showing Daesh militants burning two captive Turkish soldiers to death was released on Thursday, its brutality horrifying a region which is long accustomed to violence.
The two soldiers, named Sefer Taş and Fethi Şahin, were kidnapped by Daesh while fighting the group in Syria's al-Bab town 15 and four months ago, respectively.
The terrorists also captured two Turkish tanks during clashes in al-Bab, sources said.
The Turkish officials have not yet confirm the authenticity of the video or the identities of the captive people featured in the video.
Burning to death as legal punishment is unheard of in the contemporary Middle East, and is prohibited by Islam.
Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield with Free Syrian Army (FSA) elements on Aug. 24 to clear its southern borders from Daesh terrorist group and prevent PKK terror organization's Syrian wing PYD to control its entire borders with Syria and change demographics in the region.
Another major goal of the operation was to create a 5,000 square kilometer terror free zone for Syrian civilians to take shelter, which had long proposed by Turkey due to an influx of more than three million refugees into its borders.
Turkey-backed FSA initially drove Daesh out of the town of Jarablus on Euphrates River, fighting both with Daesh and PYD's armed wing YPG as it advanced to west and south. Following YPG's retreat to the south of Sajour River, the operation resumed with the capture of the town of al-Rai.
Currently, FSA is trying to root out the Daesh resistance in the town of al-Bab, one of the two major objectives of Euphrates Shield, with the other one being the town of Manbij under control of YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Turkey is also fighting with Daesh on the home front, preventing thousands of foreign fighters trying to join the terrorist group despite the lack of cooperation.
