Turkey evacuates town amid anti-IS Syria campaign

Turkey has ordered residents in the town of Karkamis to evacuate after it was hit by mortars from so-called Islamic State militants in Syria.

Karkamis lies just across the border from Jarablus, an IS-held town which Turkish-backed rebels are expected to try to capture in the coming days.

A rebel force is massed in the area and preparing the offensive.

Turkey blames IS for a bomb attack that killed dozens of people in the south of the country at the weekend.

It says the group must now be cleared from the border region, and has been bombarding targets across the border in northern Syria ahead of an expected ground attack.

Turkey's increasing entanglement in Syria's war has added to the strain on its administration and security services following an attempted coup in mid-July.

It accused cleric Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted overthrow from his US home, a claim he denies.

On Tuesday, US officials confirmed they had received an extradition request for the cleric - and but they said it was on grounds of alleged crimes unrelated to the coup bid, though they did not clarify.

 

 

Author: 
BBC