ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country would “clean” the Syrian side of the border of Islamic State (ISIS), its army claimed it killed 28 ISIS militants in a series of airstrikes in two separate operations against the group's positions in Syrian territory, close to Turkish border areas. "We are doing all the necessary preparations to clean the other side of the border because of the problems in Kilis," the Daily Star quoted Erdogan as saying. Shortly after Erdogan's call to launch operations against ISIS militants in the border areas where they constantly pose threats to Turkish citizens, 28 ISIS militants were killed by Turkish warplanes. "In the first incident, Turkish army opened artillery fire on Daesh [ISIS] positions after military intelligence learnt the terror group was planning to attack Turkey from north of Aleppo province," Turkish Anadolu Agency quoted security officials as saying. In the first raid, 14 ISIS militants were hunted down, the agency reported. In the second operation, the Turkish army launched another five airstrikes, leading to the death of a further 14 ISIS gunmen. It also "destroyed a two-storey building," Anadolu Agency added. Around two dozen people have been killed in the Turkish border town of Kilis by rocket fire from ISIS extremists since January, prompting the army to respond with artillery fire. Erdogan complained that his country was not receiving any sort of support from its counter-ISIS allies, therefore Ankara prepared itself to launch unilateral actions against the group in order to keep it at bay. "While our citizens fall martyr every day in the streets of Kilis by rockets launched from the other side, what can we expect from our allies?" Erdogan said. "Let me say it here. We will not hesitate to take needed steps on our own if necessary," he said. Earlier this week, Turkish special forces reportedly entered Syria to carry out a raid against ISIS rocket-launching positions. The Turkish daily Yeni Safak reported on Sunday that 15-20 Turkish soldiers entered Syria on Saturday and attacked ISIS positions after 10 days of preparation and intelligence gathering. Turkey, a member of the US-led coalition battling ISIS, also allows US jets to use its air base in southern Turkey for air strikes on the extremists.
