Five Turkish soldiers wounded in Al-Bab operation

Five Turkish military personnel were wounded on Wednesday during an operation against the Daesh terrorist organization in the northern Syrian city of al-Bab, Turkish military sources said.

The wounded soldiers were taken to hospitals in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep, it said.

Turkish soldiers were assisting the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters' advancing toward the Daesh stronghold of al-Bab in northern Syria under the Operation Euphrates Shield (OES).

Around a 1,800-sq-km area has already been cleared from Daesh and PYD / YPG terrorists by the OES forces, since the Turkey-backed operation commenced on Aug. 24 northeast of Aleppo.

Al-Bab, a strategic city linking Manbij and Raqqa with Aleppo, becomes the focus position of OES forces, while both PYD / YPG terrorists and Syrian regime forces also eye capturing the city.

FSA fighters had reached the northwestern outskirts of the city and planning to encircle it by capturing surrounding villages.