A Russian airstrike accidentally killed three and wounded 11 Turkish soldiers on Thursday, Anadolu agency reports.

President Putin called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express his condolences for what the Kremlin later said was a “tragic” incident. The Russian Chief of General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, followed with a phone call to Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar.

The Russian jet fighter was operating against IS in the mostly IS-controlled Al-Bab region of northern Syria, where Turkish troops are advancing with the support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Russia is playing a coordinating role, liaising between Turkey and the Assad regime. </s> Peskov said that Russia and Turkey will jointly investigate the deadly incident. The Kremlin spokesman said that Putin told Erdogan that Turkish soldiers had died as a result of lack of coordination regarding coordinates during Russian military jets' strikes in Syria.

Russia and Turkey will improve coordination of activities in Syria after the unintentional strike, Peskov said.

"President Putin informed… about the recent telephone conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, said that he expressed condolences to the Turkish counterpart over the fact that early this morning as a result of non-coordination of coordinates Turkish soldiers had been killed during a joint operation to liberate al-Bab by Russian Aerospace Forces' airstrikes," Peskov said.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish General Staff said that an accidental Russian airstrike killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others in northern Syria.

"Today, around 08.40, during airstrikes against Daesh targets [in Syria], Russian combat planes accidentally hit a building hosting Turkish servicemen taking part in Euphrates Shield operation. As a result, three Turkish soldiers were killed, 11 were wounded, including one seriously," the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry has also confirmed the unintentional strike, killing Turkish servicemen in Syria. The ministry said that Russian bombers had been on a mission to destroy Daesh terrorists' positions near al-Bab, where Turkish soldiers had been accidentally bombed.

"Russian bombers have been carrying out a combat mission destroying Daesh positions in al-Bab area. The chiefs of the [Russian and Turkish] general staffs agreed to closer coordinate joint actions and exchange information about the situation on the ground."

Chief of the Russian General Staff General Valery Gerasimov held telephone talks with his Turkish counterpart, during which the issues of the fight against international terrorist groups in Syria and the situation in the northeast of the province of Aleppo were discussed.

"Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Army General Valery Gerasimov expressed condolences to [Turkish] General Hulusi Akar in connection with the death of three Turkish soldiers operating in the area of ​​the city of al-Bab as a result of unintentional strike by a Russian aircraft."

The news comes as the Turkish military operation in Syria's al-Bab has entered the final stage. Turkey's units entered central al-Bab, the operation is being conducted in coordination with Russia to prevent clashes with Syrian government forces.

Russian and Turkish military jets have repeatedly jointly bombed Daesh targets near al-Bab in Syria. Al-Bab is one of Daesh’s last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories. </s> MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Putin on Thursday informed the Russian Security Council meeting participants about his conversation with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the Syrian settlement with them, Peskov said.

"President Putin informed the meeting participants about the recent telephone conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, said in particular that he expressed condolences to his Turkish counterpart over the fact that early this morning Turkish soldiers had been killed as a result of lack of coordination of coordinates during Russian Aerospace Forces' airstrikes on terrorists during a joint operation to liberate al-Bab," Peskov said.

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin spokesman confirmed to Sputnik that Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over an accidental Russian airstrike that had killed Turkish soldiers in Syria. Peskov said that Russia and Turkey will jointly investigate the deadly incident.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish General Staff said that an accidental Russian airstrike killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others in northern Syria.

The Russian Defense Ministry has also confirmed the unintentional strike, killing Turkish servicemen in Syria. The ministry said that Russian bombers had been on a mission to destroy Daesh terrorists' positions near al-Bab, where Turkish soldiers had been accidentally bombed.

The news comes as the Turkish military operation in Syria's al-Bab has entered the final stage. Turkey's units entered central al-Bab, the operation is being conducted in coordination with Russia to prevent clashes with Syrian government forces.

Russian and Turkish military jets have repeatedly jointly bombed Daesh targets near al-Bab in Syria. Al-Bab is one of Daesh’s last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories. </s> Following the Turkish military accusing the Syrian air force of striking its soldiers in the Al-Bab Plateau of east Aleppo yesterday, the Kremlin has announced that it was responsible for the accidental attack.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Sputnik that Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayiip Erdogan over an accidental Russian airstrike that had killed Turkish soldiers in Syria.

In addition to the announcement by Peskov, the Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed the accidental strike against the Turkish forces.

The strike resulted in the death of three Turkish soldiers and a further 11 wounded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to his Turkish counterpart Erdogan, the Kremlin said earlier.

Despite this set back, they both agreed to continue their operations against ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Recip Erdogan on Thursday agreed to bolster military coordination in Syria, the Kremlin said, after a Russian strike killed three Turkish soldiers.

“Putin expressed condolences over the tragic incident that caused the death of several Turkish servicemen in the area of the town of Al-Bab,” the Kremlin said after the two leaders spoke by phone.

“It was agreed to enhance military coordination in the course of the operation in Syria against ISIL fighters and other extremist organizations,” the statement said.

The Kremlin statement — which came before Turkey announced the deadly incident — did not mention explicitly that Russian firepower was to blame.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the Russian strike took place on Thursday morning and said that it was due to a “lack of agreement of coordinates during strikes by the Russian air force.”

Russia’s defense ministry said that Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov also called his Turkish counterpart to offer condolences over the “accidental” strike by a Russian jet.

“Russian jets were carrying out a military mission to destroy ISIL positions in the area of Al-Bab,” a defense ministry statement said.

The two military chiefs “agreed on closer coordination of joint actions and also the exchange of information about the situation on the ground,” it said.

Syrian Army attacks and sweeps Daesh positions near Al-Bab ~ [East of Aleppo province]

The advance of the Syrian army on Daesh positions in the east of Aleppo province caught the terrorists by surprise. Sputnik Arabic reports that the Syrian infantry successfully overcame three barrier boundaries which were put up by Daesh on the outskirts of al-Bab. ~ Read more
• Syrian Army attacks and sweeps Daesh positions near Al-Bab ~ [East of Aleppo province] </s> A Russian warplane “accidentally” hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey’s military said.

President Vladimir Putin promptly called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to express regrets over the friendly fire incident. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed his condolences over the “tragic incident.”

The Russian airstrike took place in the morning, near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters are trying to capture from the Islamic State group. News of the deaths came as Turkey was holding funerals for five Turkish soldiers killed in an IS attack near al-Bab the day before. The Turkish military said Turkey and Russia were conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of how complex the Syrian theatre of war has become, Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters and Syrian government allied troops briefly clashed on the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria.

It was the first such confrontation since the Turkey-backed offensive began in northern Syria last August. Thursday’s clashes came despite Ankara’s remarks the previous day that it was in talks with Moscow to co-ordinate troop movements and avoid any encounter with the Syrian military in the fighting around the IS-held town.

Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey’s downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago. In late December, the two countries brokered a cease-fire for Syria and in January they sponsored peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad’s government officials attended that gathering.

Thursday’s airstrike deaths raise the number of Turkish troops killed in Turkey’s operation in Syria to 64.

Syria’s opposition-run Thiqa news agency, which covers Syrian opposition fighters in the offensive on al-Bab, told The Associated Press that a sniper opened fire on the Turkey-backed forces advancing on the western edge of al-Bab, sparking clashes that wounded several fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were fierce around the southwestern edge of al-Bab, where the government troops made a significant advance on Thursday.

The Turkey-backed opposition fighters have also made a significant push into al-Bab, seizing a strategic hill on the town’s western edge. There was no immediate comment from Damascus on the reported clashes between the government troops and the opposition fighters.

A Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire, in place since Dec. 30, has excluded areas where militant factions, the Islamic State group and Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, operate or hold ground.

Syrian government troops and allied militias, as well Turkish troops, the U.S-led international coalition, and Russia have been going after IS in different parts of the country.

The push has lately focused on the IS-held town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. Syrian government forces and their allies have been pushing from the south, aided by Russian airstrikes

On Thursday, government troops seized a village south of al-Bab, bringing them less than 3 kilometres (1.5 miles) from the town, according to opposition monitors.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops, backing Syrian opposition fighters, have pushed their way from the western part of the town, entering the outskirts of al-Bab. The two advances have effectively encircled the militant group, which had set up strong fortifications around al-Bab.

Another fight against IS is raging in east and northeast Syria, where Kurdish troops, backed by the United States, are advancing against the IS in the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa. Meanwhile, government forces are battling an IS offensive in Deir al-Zour and another one in the central Homs province, around the ancient town of Palmyra.

In other developments in Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross said a suspected rebel mortar attack that hit a Red Crescent distribution centre in the government-held city of Aleppo Wednesday killed a volunteer and two civilians.

The attack in the Hamadaniya neighbourhood also wounded seven other volunteers. The Observatory said there were also other mortar rounds that hit security checkpoints in the area. Syria’s state news agency said mortar shells also hit other buildings in the neighbourhood.

After years of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces drove the rebels out of eastern Aleppo in December, but the opposition still holds some areas on the city’s outskirts. Fighting has continued around Aleppo and in other parts of Syria despite a Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire.

Violence has also beset rebel- and opposition-held areas, including in Homs, where at least nine civilians were killed in suspected Russian or government airstrikes on Wednesday. The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, told the AP that three people were killed when an explosive device was detonated in the city on Thursday. </s> Russian Defence Ministry official representative general Igor Konashenkov makes an official statement for the media in Russian Defence Ministry in Moscow, Russia, 20 October 2016. Igor Konashenkov reported provided to the media detailed information, taken from Russian radars concerning the flight and airstrike of a pair of Belgian F-16 fighters. According to this information two Belgian combat jets F-16 took off 18 October from Jordanian airbase and after two-hours patrol flight receiving additional fuel from US flying tanker dropped bombs of Kurdish village Khassajek near Aleppo. Six residents of the village were killed during the airstrike. (Photo: SERGEI CHIRIKOV, EPA)

Up to 200 militia members were killed in air strikes in Aleppo province in Syria where Kurdish-led forces have been advancing against Islamic State militants, Turkish media reported Thursday.

The Turkish General Staff said between 160 and 200 members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliate, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), died in the bombings, according to the semi-official Anadolu news agency.

However, Commander Mahmoud Barkhadan of the People’s Protection Unit — the main Syrian Kurdish militia — told the Associated Press that early reports suggested that no more than 10 fighters were killed and 20 wounded.

The Turkish military did not give a location but the group is trying to take the key city of Al-Bab, located about 23 miles northeast of Aleppo, as the Islamic State withdraws. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2evj9pk </s> A Russian warplane “accidentally” hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey’s military said.

President Vladimir Putin promptly called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to express regrets over the friendly fire incident. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed his condolences over the “tragic incident.”

The Russian airstrike took place in the morning, near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters are trying to capture from the Islamic State group. News of the deaths came as Turkey was holding funerals for five Turkish soldiers killed in an IS attack near al-Bab the day before. The Turkish military said Turkey and Russia were conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of how complex the Syrian theater of war has become, Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters and Syrian government allied troops briefly clashed on the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria.

It was the first such confrontation since the Turkey-backed offensive began in northern Syria last August. Thursday’s clashes came despite Ankara’s remarks the previous day that it was in talks with Moscow to coordinate troop movements and avoid any encounter with the Syrian military in the fighting around the IS-held town.

Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey’s downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago. In late December, the two countries brokered a cease-fire for Syria and in January they sponsored peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad’s government officials attended that gathering.

Thursday’s airstrike deaths raise the number of Turkish troops killed in Turkey’s operation in Syria to 64.

Syria’s opposition-run Thiqa news agency, which covers Syrian opposition fighters in the offensive on al-Bab, told The Associated Press that a sniper opened fire on the Turkey-backed forces advancing on the western edge of al-Bab, sparking clashes that wounded several fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were fierce around the southwestern edge of al-Bab, where the government troops made a significant advance on Thursday.

The Turkey-backed opposition fighters have also made a significant push into al-Bab, seizing a strategic hill on the town’s western edge. There was no immediate comment from Damascus on the reported clashes between the government troops and the opposition fighters.

A Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire, in place since Dec. 30, has excluded areas where militant factions, the Islamic State group and Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, operate or hold ground.

Syrian government troops and allied militias, as well Turkish troops, the U.S-led international coalition, and Russia have been going after IS in different parts of the country.

The push has lately focused on the IS-held town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. Syrian government forces and their allies have been pushing from the south, aided by Russian airstrikes

On Thursday, government troops seized a village south of al-Bab, bringing them less than 3 km (1.5 miles) from the town, according to opposition monitors.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops, backing Syrian opposition fighters, have pushed their way from the western part of the town, entering the outskirts of al-Bab. The two advances have effectively encircled the militant group, which had set up strong fortifications around al-Bab.

Another fight against IS is raging in east and northeast Syria, where Kurdish troops, backed by the United States, are advancing against the IS in the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa. Meanwhile, government forces are battling an IS offensive in Deir al-Zour and another one in the central Homs province, around the ancient town of Palmyra.

In other developments in Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross said a suspected rebel mortar attack that hit a Red Crescent distribution center in the government-held city of Aleppo Wednesday killed a volunteer and two civilians.

The attack in the Hamadaniya neighborhood also wounded seven other volunteers. The Observatory said there were also other mortar rounds that hit security checkpoints in the area. Syria’s state news agency said mortar shells also hit other buildings in the neighborhood.

After years of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces drove the rebels out of eastern Aleppo in December, but the opposition still holds some areas on the city’s outskirts. Fighting has continued around Aleppo and in other parts of Syria despite a Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire.

Violence has also beset rebel- and opposition-held areas, including in Homs, where at least nine civilians were killed in suspected Russian or government airstrikes on Wednesday. The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, told the AP that three people were killed when an explosive device was detonated in the city on Thursday. </s> ANKARA, Turkey — A Russian warplane "accidentally" hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey's military said.

President Vladimir Putin promptly called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to express regrets over the friendly fire incident. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed his condolences over the "tragic incident."

The Russian airstrike took place in the morning, near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters are trying to capture from the Islamic State group. News of the deaths came as Turkey was holding funerals for five Turkish soldiers killed in an IS attack near al-Bab the day before. The Turkish military said Turkey and Russia were conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of how complex the Syrian theater of war has become, Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters and Syrian government allied troops briefly clashed on the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town in northern Syria.

It was the first such confrontation since the Turkey-backed offensive began in northern Syria last August. Thursday's clashes came despite Ankara's remarks the previous day that it was in talks with Moscow to coordinate troop movements and avoid any encounter with the Syrian military in the fighting around the IS-held town.

Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey's downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago. In late December, the two countries brokered a cease-fire for Syria and in January they sponsored peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's government officials attended that gathering.

Thursday's airstrike deaths raise the number of Turkish troops killed in Turkey's operation in Syria to 64.

Syria's opposition-run Thiqa news agency, which covers Syrian opposition fighters in the offensive on al-Bab, told The Associated Press that a sniper opened fire on the Turkey-backed forces advancing on the western edge of al-Bab, sparking clashes that wounded several fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were fierce around the southwestern edge of al-Bab, where the government troops made a significant advance on Thursday.

The Turkey-backed opposition fighters have also made a significant push into al-Bab, seizing a strategic hill on the town's western edge. There was no immediate comment from Damascus on the reported clashes between the government troops and the opposition fighters.

A Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire, in place since Dec. 30, has excluded areas where militant factions, the Islamic State group and Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, operate or hold ground.

Syrian government troops and allied militias, as well Turkish troops, the U.S-led international coalition, and Russia have been going after IS in different parts of the country.

The push has lately focused on the IS-held town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. Syrian government forces and their allies have been pushing from the south, aided by Russian airstrikes

On Thursday, government troops seized a village south of al-Bab, bringing them less than 3 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the town, according to opposition monitors.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops, backing Syrian opposition fighters, have pushed their way from the western part of the town, entering the outskirts of al-Bab. The two advances have effectively encircled the militant group, which had set up strong fortifications around al-Bab.

Another fight against IS is raging in east and northeast Syria, where Kurdish troops, backed by the United States, are advancing against the IS in the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa. Meanwhile, government forces are battling an IS offensive in Deir al-Zour and another one in the central Homs province, around the ancient town of Palmyra.

In other developments in Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross said a suspected rebel mortar attack that hit a Red Crescent distribution center in the government-held city of Aleppo Wednesday killed a volunteer and two civilians.

The attack in the Hamadaniya neighborhood also wounded seven other volunteers. The Observatory said there were also other mortar rounds that hit security checkpoints in the area. Syria's state news agency said mortar shells also hit other buildings in the neighborhood.

After years of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces drove the rebels out of eastern Aleppo in December, but the opposition still holds some areas on the city's outskirts. Fighting has continued around Aleppo and in other parts of Syria despite a Russia- and Turkey-sponsored cease-fire.

Violence has also beset rebel- and opposition-held areas, including in Homs, where at least nine civilians were killed in suspected Russian or government airstrikes on Wednesday. The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, told the AP that three people were killed when an explosive device was detonated in the city on Thursday.

El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report. </s> ISTANBUL – Three Turkish soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in northern Syria on Thursday in what the Turkish military said was a pre-dawn airstrike believed to have been carried out by Syrian government forces.

A statement posted on the website of the Turkish Armed Forces said the attack took place at 3 a.m. but did not provide an exact location for the strike. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the airstrike took place near the town of al-Bab, which Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces are trying to take back from the Islamic State group.

However, a Syrian monitoring group that tracks the conflict through a network of activists on the ground said the deaths of the Turkish soldiers were caused by an IS suicide attack on Wednesday, disputing the Turkish government claim of a Thursday airstrike.

Rami Abdurrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the suicide attack occurred Wednesday in the al-Bab. He dismissed reports that it was an airstrike.

The discrepancies in the statements could not be immediately resolved.

The Turkish troops are not fighting Syrian government forces and the attack would be the first assault on Turkish soldiers by the Syrian government forces.

In Ankara, Turkey’s main opposition party leader urged the government to act “with common sense” and not escalate tensions.

“This (issue) could drag Turkey toward a very dangerous process,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Thursday.

Citing national security considerations, Turkish authorities imposed a temporary media ban on coverage of the attack, barring media outlets from reports that “foster fear, panic and chaos,” and contain images of the deceased or the wounded, or exaggerated accounts.

The bodies of the dead were taken to the morgue in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep by helicopter, the Turkish army said. The 10 wounded soldiers were being treated at hospitals in Gaziantep and in the neighboring city of Kilis.

The Turkish military, meanwhile, pressed ahead with its efforts to capture al-Bab.

Turkish warplanes struck IS positions in al-Bab and the northern Syrian towns of Kabbasin, Bzagah and Arimah, destroying a building reportedly used as an IS headquarters and seven defensive positions, Anadolu reported, citing unnamed Turkish military officials.

Associated Press Writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report. </s> ANKARA: The Turkish army blamed the Syrian regime for an air strike on Thursday in northern Syria that killed three soldiers and wounded 10, it said in a statement.

“In the air strike assessed to have been by Syrian regime forces, three of our heroic soldiers were killed and 10 soldiers wounded, one seriously,” said the statement on its website.

The army said the strike took place at 3:30 am (0030 GMT). Turkish media reported earlier that the attack in the Al Bab region was by Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

This is the first time the army has blamed President Bashar Assad’s regime for an attack killing Turkish soldiers during Ankara’s three month operation in northern Syria.

The Turkish military launched the operation — dubbed “Euphrates Shield” — in August supporting Syrian opposition fighters seeking to retake territory from IS in northern Syria with tanks and aerial support.

Hundreds of Turkish soldiers are taking part in the operation, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week was pushing forward with its aim of taking Al Bab from IS.

“We reached Al Bab right now and besieged it from the west,” the president said in a speech on Tuesday.

The latest deaths raise to at least 15 the number of Turkish soldiers killed since Turkey began its operation in northern Syria.

Most were killed by IS but one soldier was killed in an attack blamed on the Kurdish People’s Protection Forces (YPG).
At least three soldiers of the Turkish Armed Forces are accidentally killed by a Russian airstrike near al-Bab in northern Syria.