Turkish Soldier Killed, Two Wounded by Islamic State Group Militants

Turkish security services reported on Sunday that one Turkish soldier was killed and two wounded in an attack by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The soldiers were evacuated from an area close to the ISIS-held city of al-Bab in northern Syria. Last week, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish-backed forces were 1.25 miles (2 km) away from the city and expected to take it soon.

The attack comes several months after Turkey began sustained military operations in northern Syria in an operation called Euphrates Shield, which aims to push back ISIS and Kurdish militants from the border. In August, the Turkish government sent warplanes, tanks and special forces to support allied Turkmen and Arab forces.

The U.S. military has not participated in Turkey’s bid to oust ISIS militants from al-Bab, though both countries are NATO members. The U.S. has supported Kurdish militias in the region, despite the Turkish government’s opposition to Kurdish forces. Kurdish-dominated forces have also been trying to take over al-Bab, a move that Turkish forces have looked to prevent.

All Hospitals in Eastern Aleppo Reportedly Out of Service

The World Health Organization (WHO) and eastern Aleppo’s health directorate said that airstrikes have rendered all of the hospitals in the rebel-held area of the city out of service, Reuters reported.

Rebel-held eastern Aleppo has been pummeled by heavy airstrikes since Tuesday, after the Syrian government and its allies resumed their air campaign following a weeks-long pause. About 180 people have been killed in eastern Aleppo and the surrounding area since then.

On Saturday, airstrikes, barrel bombs and artillery rounds killed at least 48 people, including five children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based war monitor.

Despite the WHO’s statement, the Observatory reported that some hospitals were still partially operating but residents were afraid to use them.

The Syrian government and its Russian allies denied targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure.

Syrian Government Rejects U.N. Aleppo Truce

The Syrian government refused an Aleppo truce proposed by U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem instead called on opposition militants to leave the rebel-held eastern area of the city and rejected granting autonomy as a solution to the violence. Al-Moallem said that restoring government rule in the area was a matter of “national sovereignty.”

De Mistura said that continuing the Syrian military’s current approach in eastern Aleppo, where some 275,000 people are trapped, would lead moderate rebels to join ISIS, and suggested a “creative,” if only temporary, solution was required to bring the violence to an end. He also called on the estimated 900 al-Qaida-linked militants to withdraw from the area.

RECOMMENDED READS:

• The Economist: The Next Push
• Foreign Policy: Trump’s Syria Strategy Would Be a Disaster
• Reuters: For Syria Rebels, Trump Win Adds to Uncertain Fate
• The National: The Unsung Heroes of Syria’s Terrible War
• The Washington Post: Hezbollah has U.S. Armored Personnel Carriers. But How Did They Get Them?