U.S. airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire have combined to kill 104 Islamist militants in northern Syria, according to a report from Turkey’s state-run news agency.

The Anadolu news agency reported Saturday the strikes came late Friday as retaliation just hours after rockets fired from IS-held territory hit Turkey’s border province of Kilis, wounding five people.

The U.S.-led strikes in Syria also destroyed seven buildings used as a headquarters by IS, the Turkish media outlet reported.

So far this year, 21 people have been killed in Kilis and many more wounded due to cross-border missile attacks from Syria. Turkey typically responds to IS attacks with artillery shelling.

Earlier this month, in a similar operation, Turkish shelling killed 55 IS fighters after dealing with rocket attacks for weeks.

Elsewhere in Syria Friday, IS militants launched an offensive attack in Aleppo province, cutting off a main supply route in a battle with rebel soldiers that lasted through the night into Saturday.

The advance, the largest by IS in Aleppo in two years, is part of a broader offensive operation on rebel strongholds near the Turkish border that began Thursday night.

As of Friday night, the Islamist extremists had captured a group of six villages, forcing the evacuation of a hospital and trapping roughly 160,000 people in their homes due to the heavy fighting.

  [Read More]

—–
Source: VOA News: Economy and Finance