Jihadists last week circulated a video purportedly showing two Turkish
soldiers captured by the extremists in Syria being burned alive.
Turkey on Monday said it wanted
international air support for its army's assault on the jihadist-held
Syrian town of Al Bab where the military is facing tough resistance from
Islamic State (IS) extremists.
Turkish
forces have for weeks joined pro-Ankara Syrian rebels in fierce fighting
for Al Bab, taking increasing casualties as they approach closer to the
centre.
Turkey is part of the US-led
coalition against IS jihadists in Syria and lets Western war planes use
its Incirlik air base as a hub for air raids.
"As
for our operations in Al Bab, the international coalition should assume
its responsibilities, especially where air support is concerned," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in televised comments in Ankara.
"The weather conditions can sometimes entail delays," Kalin acknowledged. "But the absence of air support when there is no valid reason is unacceptable," he added.
The
US and its allies have been conducting their own air strikes against IS
targets in Syria but there have been no reports of them specifically
aiding the Turkish operation.
Turkey at
the weekend deployed more tanks and artillery to the border and also has
sent 500 elite commandos to Al Bab in readiness for a final fight for
the town, reports said.
A Britain-based
monitoring group has accused Turkey of killing 88 civilians in air
strikes on Al-Bab. However the army has unequivocally denied such
claims.
Thirty-six Turkish soldiers have
died so far in the operation inside Syria -- dubbed Euphrates Shield --
since it was launched on August 24.
Islamic
State jihadists last week circulated a video purportedly showing two
Turkish soldiers captured by the extremists in Syria being burned alive.
The authenticity of the video cannot be confirmed and Turkey's leadership has made no mention of the images.
Turkey's
Defence Minister Fikri Isik has said three Turkish soldiers are being
held by IS, without giving further detail. The issue was evoked at
Kalin's televised news conference but the spokesman did not give any
comment.
Users in Turkey had reported
severe problems with social media after the video emerged. However by
Monday access to Twitter was fully restored after three days of
disruption.
Source: Pulse.ng
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