ANKARA, August 24. /TASS/. Turkey’s armed units started a ground operation against the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Syria on Wednesday, the Cumhuriyet newspaper has reported.
The armored formations of the Turkish army are stationed near the Syrian town of Jarablus, according to the report. They moved towards the town at 8.30 a.m. local time (5.30 a.m. GMT) to carry out the operation to clear it from the IS militants.
Turkish broadcaster NTV reported earlier that Turkey’s authorities have officially notified Russia of launching the operation.
The Turkish army jointly with the units of the Syrian opposition began the operation to take control of Jarablus held by the IS group. The special forces and armored units have already crossed the Turkish-Syrian border. The terrorists’ positions are hit from tanks, artillery weapons and aircraft.