UPDATE 2 - 3 Turkish soldiers martyred fighting Daesh in Syria

ADDS BODIES OF MARTYRED SOLDIERS BROUGHT TO TURKEY

ANKARA (AA) - Three Turkish soldiers were martyred and another injured Friday in clashes between the Syrian opposition and Daesh in northern Syria, the military said.

The soldiers were martyred after a tank was hit at 12.20 p.m. local time (0920GMT) during clashes in the Tel al-Hawa region, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

The bodies of the martyred soldiers and the wounded soldier were brought to Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province by helicopter.

The bodies of the martyrs will be sent to their hometowns after military funerals. The wounded soldier was taken to Gaziantep’s 25 Aralik State Hospital.

The statement said that a rocket landed in a rural area near the southeastern province of Kilis from the Daesh-controlled Kafr Ghan region. No casualties were reported.

In response, 15 Daesh positions in the vicinity of the rocket’s origin were targeted by Firtina howitzers, the statement said.

It also said that Turkish Air Forces carried out an air operation Friday morning against four Daesh targets in the Tal Ali, Tel al-Hawa, and south Wuquf regions.

"In the air operation, four buildings that were used as headquarters by Daesh were destroyed," it said.

The statement also said that a Daesh terrorist was "neutralized" in an air operation by coalition forces in Kafr Ghan.

Operation Euphrates Shield, launched on Aug. 24 by Turkey, aims at improving security, supporting coalition forces, and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery, and jets.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests.