ANKARA, Turkey--Fourteen Turkish soldiers were killed, and 33 others were wounded as the Turkish army and the so-called Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) continue to push deeper into the ISIS-held Syrian city of al-Bab, northwestern Syria, the Turkish military said in a statement Wednesday night.
It also claimed that138 ISIS militants were killed in the clashes.
The military said earlier in the day that it took control of the road between the two northwestern cities of Aleppo and al-Bab, according to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News.
The Turkish President said on Wednesday that he received the news from the military that they have now encircled the city.
"Right now, al-Bab is completely besieged by the Free Syrian Army and our soldiers," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
Al-Bab is the only city ISIS still occupies in northwestern Syria since the US-backed YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) successfully captured Manbij from the militants in mid-August, following a lengthy summer offensive.
Turkey has been supporting hundreds of Free Syrian Army fighters in northwestern Syria with tanks, artillery, airstrikes and a small number of ground troops since they launched the Euphrates Shield operation on August 24.
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