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Turkey says 2 of its soldiers killed in IS attack in Syria

US hits is targets with 'newly deployed' mobile rocket

"We stated that would not be a problem from our perspective".

Further south and west of Jarablus, Turkish forces have continued fighting. It said the wounded were evacuated by helicopters.

Turkey has been an active player in the fight against the twisted terror network, rolling its tanks into Syria last month to push ISIS fighters back from the border.

Syrian Kurdish fighters have not completely pulled back to the east of the Euphrates river, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Wednesday, voicing a frequent complaint about the advance of the US -backed militia in northern Syria.

The army said Turkey's rebel allies had taken six more villages, located in Islamic State-held areas, adding to dozens of settlements now under the control of Turkish-backed forces.

The overwhelming majority of fighters belonging to the groups Turkey has chosen as its partners in the invasion of Syria are not "jihadis", (holy warriors), but "taqfiris", Muslims of a radical persuasion who accuse Muslims who disagree with them of apostasy and people of other faiths of heresy.

There is now a desire on both sides to improve ties and the suggestion from President Erdogan of United States acquiescence in a Turkish role in the wider battle-plan to recapture Raqqa from IS is clearly part of this.

He said: "Obama wants to do some things together concerning Raqqa in particular".

Erdogan's spokesman said there were neither objections nor clear signs of support in the meetings.

They were the first Turkish losses to ISIS since Ankara launched its offensive on August 24.

Canikli also said that President Tayyip Erdogan had told U.S. President Barack Obama that he viewed a joint operation in Syria's Raqqa positively.

"We are talking about two superpowers with great stakes in Syria".

Turkey has also turned its attention to Kurdish rebel groups in the region, reaffirming its stance that all armed forces fighting on the border are "terrorists", including the US-backed Kurdish YPG militia.

A total of five Turkish servicemen were killed and seven more were injured during the "Shield of the Euphrates" operation.

"Turkey has supported us in every way until now, and has now saved our homeland", said Fatima Mahmud, a mother who was among the group, told the Turkish newspaper Milliyet. And Turkey would find itself deeply embroiled militarily in Syria's civil war.

YPG fighters and its allies, with United States backing, have seized chunks of territory from the jihadists. For its part, Turkey has been less insistent on Assad's immediate exit.

stayontheblack.com

Turkey says 2 of its soldiers killed in IS attack in Syria