Turkey and U.S.-led coalition pound ISIS in Syria, killing 63
Four drones were deployed by coalition forces from Turkey air base
The Turkish military said Monday that artillery shelling and drone attacks by the U.S.-led coalition have struck ISIS positions in Syria and killed a total of 63 militants.
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The state-owned Anadolu Agency said the coalition strikes took out multiple rocket launchers and gun positions in Syria.
Four drones deployed from the Incirlik air base, a launching point for U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Turkey, took part in the operation and killed 29 militants.
The air strikes were informed by intelligence gathered by the Turkish army, the private Dogan news agency reported.
The remaining 34 ISIS fighters were "neutralized" by rocket fire and artillery shelling from Turkey, according to Anadolu Agency.
The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify the reported casualties.
The offensive started on Sunday when four rockets fired from Syria hit the Turkish border town of Kilis and injured eight people.
The wider province of Kilis borders territory contested by ISIS militants, anti-government Syrian rebels and Kurdish factions.
The Turkish army typically responds to fire from Syria in line with its rules of engagement.
In the past year, Turkey has also witnessed suicide bombings linked to ISIS as well as attacks linked to Kurdish militants.
The latest came Sunday, when a car bomb detonated outside a police station in the southern city of Gaziantep, near Syria, killing two police officers and injuring 22 other people.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that attack but anti-terrorism units raided 20 Gaziantep addresses overnight in search for suspects.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army confirmed an earlier Russian announcement Monday that a "regime of calm" around the capital Damascus had been extended for another 48 hours, state television reported. It is an extension of Friday's 24-hour lull in fighting in the capital and the Eastern Ghouta region on its outskirts.
with files from Reuters