Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Işık on Dec. 23 said he had information that three Turkish soldiers were abducted by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in northern Syria but added that other “comments” beyond this information were not confirmed.
“Up until now, we have information that three of our soldiers are abducted by DAEŞ [ISIL],” said Işık during a meeting in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.
He added that Turkish forces along with Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters “cleared” the key location of al-Bab, Hospital Height, from ISIL militants but there were “more work to carry out.”
Turkey for four months has been carrying out the military operation, Euphrates Shield, in support of FSA fighters in northern Syria, to secure its border from ISIL.
Meanwhile, 68 ISIL militants were “neutralized” during the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria’s al-Bab since Dec. 23, according to the Turkish military.
According to a statement issued by Turkish General Staff on Dec. 24, a total of 141 ISIL targets including a military headquarters were destroyed within the Operation Euphrates Shield.
The statement said that two FSA fighters were killed and one other was wounded in clashes with ISIL militants.
The Turkish military usually uses the term neutralized to refer to dead or injured or captured militants.