Turkish special forces backed by coalition air support launched an incursion into Syria in the early hours on Wednesday to take the town of Jarabulus from the Islamic State (IS) group, Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

Turkish tanks crossed the border into Syria in what officials are calling operation “Euphrates Shield”, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stating on Wednesday that his forces would be targeting “terrorist groups like Daesh (IS) and PYD,” referring to the pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party, whose military wing the People’s Protection Units (YPG) continue to make military gains in northern Syria.

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Kurdish militias and Syrian government forces are fighting for control of the northeastern city of Hasakah.

The two sides once worked together to combat ISIL, but now the Syrian government is accusing the Kurdish militias of seeking to divide the country. The Kurds, on the other hand, accuse the government of having a secret understanding with Turkey against them.

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Israel launched air strikes on Beit Hanoun, a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip, the army and police have said. It came after militants in the Gaza strip fired a rocket at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Sunday (21 August).

The rocket landed in a residential area in Sderot. However, it did not cause any injuries or damage.

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Russia has deployed long-range bombers to an air base in the Iranian city of Hamadan to carry out air strikes against militants in Syria, the Russian government said on Tuesday.

“On 16 August, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 frontline bombers, flying with a full bomb load from the Hamadan air base (Islamic Republic of Iran), conducted a group air strike against targets of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir Ezzor and Idlib,” a defence ministry statement said.

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Beijing and Damascus have agreed that the Chinese military will provide humanitarian aid to Syria, a high-ranking People’s Liberation Army officer said, adding that the training of Syrian personnel by Chinese instructors has also been discussed.

Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China’s Central Military Commission, Guan Youfei, arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for talks with Syrian Defense Minister Fahad Jassim al-Freij, Chinese Xinhua news agency reported.

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