Turkey's Euphrates Shield Operation in Northern Syria Successful - Deputy PM

Ankara is satisfied with the Euphrates Shield operation to liberate northern Syria from terrorists, carried out by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) opposition faction backed by the Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Friday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. As Jarabulus was retaken, the joint forces of Ankara, the coalition and Syrian rebels continued the offensive southwest.

"Basically, the operation is being conducted by FSA, and the artillery and aircraft of the Turkish Armed Forces clears the way for them. The operation is successful. We are going to clear up the territories adjacent to the Turkish border, a total area of ​​5,000 square kilometers [1,930 square miles], and establish a security zone. Thus, the threat to Turkey will be completely eliminated, and the border areas of Syria will be cleaned from the terrorists," Kurtulmus said, as cited by the Anadolu news agency.

Speaking about the reasons for the operation, Kurtulmus said that rocket fire from Syrian territory had inflicted considerable damage to border provinces of Turkey. In addition, the terrorists tried to get into Turkey from Syria.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting the Syrian opposition groups striving to overthrow President Bashar Assad. In parallel, Damascus has to counter numerous extremist groups, in particular, Daesh.