Two Turkish soldiers were killed and five wounded on Tuesday in a rocket attack by ISIL militants on their tanks in northern Syria, Turkish television reported, citing an army statement.

“Two of our hero comrades were martyred and five were wounded in a rocket attack on two of our tanks by ISIL elements,” NTV quoted the statement as saying.

The fatalities are the first of Turkey’s two-week operation inside Syria to be blamed on ISIL. Turkey had blamed the death of one soldier on August 28 in a similar attack on Kurdish militia.

The army said the attack took place south of Al-Rai, where Turkish tanks opened a second front in their Syria operation at the weekend.

The area is west of Jarabulus near the Turkish border which was retaken by pro-Ankara rebels at the start of the operation from ‘jihadists’.

Turkish television showed pictures of military helicopters flying across the border to take the wounded for treatment in Turkey.

Source: AFP