Russia, Turkey conduct airstrikes on Islamic State
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - Warplanes belonging to Russia and Turkey recently conducted airstrikes on the Islamic State (IS) group targets near the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, as a tentative ceasefire brokered by both between the Damascus government and rebels entered its fourth day on Monday.
Turkish jets targeted IS militants' weapon storages, living quarters and eight fighting positions in al-Bab, the villages of Bza'a and Tadif east and south of the town respectively, 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the border.
Although Turkish media did not specify the timeframe the air campaign took place, the reports followed the IS-claimed mass shooting that killed at least 39 people during New Year's celebrations at an Istanbul nightclub.
At least 22 IS fighters were "neutralized" according to the government-run Anadolu news agency which cited a statement by the Turkish army, also fighting on the ground in support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions bidding for weeks now to capture al-Bab.
The agency added Russian jets too joined the campaign by striking "IS elements" eight kilometers southwest of al-Bab, in support for the NATO member Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield launched into Syria in August 2016.
Although there was no confirmation by Russia's officials, reports of Russian air support to Turkey's Syria campaign first appeared last week, coinciding with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's accusation against the US of providing the IS with weapons.
US officials strongly rejected the accusation.
A spokesperson for Erdogan earlier complained of a lack of support from the US-led Coalition.
The US stopped giving air cover to the Turkish troops and FSA in November following intense aerial and ground attacks by Turkey on the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the key US ground ally in the fight against the IS in Syria.
Russo-Turkish relations improved following Erdogan's apology to his counterpart Vladimir Putin in June 2016 over his army's shootdown of a Russian warplane a year earlier.
The shootdown resulted in the death of a marine and the execution by Turkey-backed rebels of the pilot in the air while descending by parachute.
Last month assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara Andrei Karlov by an off-duty Turkish policeman over Russia's role in Syrian regime's recapture of eastern Aleppo did not falter the growing alliance as a trilateral meeting with the participation of Iran began the following day in Moscow.
Editing by Ava Homa