Turkish Tanks/Troops Cross Into Northern Syria in an effort to wipe-out ISIS

Turkish Troops

Turkish tanks have crossed into northern Syria from Kilis Province to attack Islamic State.

Reports suggest at least 20 tanks, trucks and other armoured vehicles crossed the border near the Turkish village of Cobanbey, which lies across from the Syrian village of Al-Rai.

A Reuters cameraman in the area heard a repeated booming sound and saw plumes of smoke rising from the Syrian side of the border.

State media said troops were providing support to Syrian opposition fighters in al Rai, after ridding northern villages of extremists in its intervention.

The country began its cross-border offensive last month with its tanks, artillery and warplanes backing the Free Syrian Army as they captured the town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants.

Since then, rebels claim to have been seizing villages along the Turkish border.

The Hamza Brigade, a group fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, said it had taken control of Arab Ezza, an area near which Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes on Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group confirmed the rebels had taken the village and also that they had seized at least one other nearby.

Last week, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would continue its military operation in Syria, despite the US expressing "deep concern" about Turkish strikes on Kurdish-aligned groups that Washington has backed in its battle against IS.

Germany also said it did not want to see a lasting Turkish presence in an already tangled conflict.

But Mr Erdogan vowed the offensive would continue until the Islamic State group and the Kurdish Syrian fighters no longer posed a threat to Turkey.

At the time, he said: "Our operations will continue until terror organisations such as Daesh (Islamic State), the PKK and its Syrian arm, the YPG, cease to be threats for our citizens."

When the campaign was launched, Turkey's leaders said there was no plan to stay in Syria and the aim was to protect its frontier from Islamic State and the Kurdish-dominated militia.