Turkish Border Area

US military vehicles Saturday entered a Kurdish-held area in northeastern Syria and met with officials, AFP correspondents and a local source said, in the second such visit since an announced US pullout from the Turkish border area.

The number of Syrian refugees crossing the border into Iraq has increased significantly in recent days after the anti-Kurds Turkish offensive in the area, the UN said in a statement.

US forces in northern Syria started pulling back Monday from areas along the Turkish border ahead of a feared military invasion by Ankara that Kurdish forces say would spark a jihadist resurgence.

Five rockets fired into Turkey from an area of Syria controlled by the ISIS group hit the border town of Kilis today, killing one person and wounding 26, the deputy prime minister said.

Turkey's army has launched artillery strikes on positions of the ISIS group in Syria after jihadists seized control of an area near the Turkish border, local media reported on Monday.

As many as three people were wounded when rocket fire from an ISIS-controlled area in northern Syria entered Turkish territory, striking the border town of Kilis today, security sources said.

Air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian jets killed at least 30 people in the town of Ariha in northwestern Syria on Sunday, rescue workers in the rebel-held area said, part of an escalation of Russian strikes near the Turkish border.

Kurdish forces and the Syrian army fought separate battles with Islamic State around Hasaka city in northeast Syria overnight as the hardline group tried to capture more areas of the major urban centre near the Iraqi border, a monitor said today.

Islamic State fighters backed by tanks have captured 16 Kurdish villages over the past 24 hours in northern Syria near the Turkish border, prompting civilians to flee their homes amid fears of retribution by the extremists sweeping through the area, activists said.

Turkish armed forces shot down a Syrian plane on Sunday which Turkey said had crossed into its air space in an area where Syrian rebels have been battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces for control of a border crossing.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bombarded the Ras al-Ain area on the border with Turkey on Sunday, days after the town fell to rebels during an advance that has sent thousands of refugees fleeing for safety.

Kurdish rebels attacked Turkish military units in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, sparking clashes in which 10 rebels and eights soldiers died, authorities said. The attack happened in Daglica area of Hakkari province, which borders northern Iraq's Kurdish areas.

US military vehicles Saturday entered a Kurdish-held area in northeastern Syria and met with officials, AFP correspondents and a local source said, in the second such visit since an announced US pullout from the Turkish border area.

The number of Syrian refugees crossing the border into Iraq has increased significantly in recent days after the anti-Kurds Turkish offensive in the area, the UN said in a statement.

US forces in northern Syria started pulling back Monday from areas along the Turkish border ahead of a feared military invasion by Ankara that Kurdish forces say would spark a jihadist resurgence.

Five rockets fired into Turkey from an area of Syria controlled by the ISIS group hit the border town of Kilis today, killing one person and wounding 26, the deputy prime minister said.

Turkey's army has launched artillery strikes on positions of the ISIS group in Syria after jihadists seized control of an area near the Turkish border, local media reported on Monday.

As many as three people were wounded when rocket fire from an ISIS-controlled area in northern Syria entered Turkish territory, striking the border town of Kilis today, security sources said.

Air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian jets killed at least 30 people in the town of Ariha in northwestern Syria on Sunday, rescue workers in the rebel-held area said, part of an escalation of Russian strikes near the Turkish border.

Kurdish forces and the Syrian army fought separate battles with Islamic State around Hasaka city in northeast Syria overnight as the hardline group tried to capture more areas of the major urban centre near the Iraqi border, a monitor said today.

Islamic State fighters backed by tanks have captured 16 Kurdish villages over the past 24 hours in northern Syria near the Turkish border, prompting civilians to flee their homes amid fears of retribution by the extremists sweeping through the area, activists said.

Turkish armed forces shot down a Syrian plane on Sunday which Turkey said had crossed into its air space in an area where Syrian rebels have been battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces for control of a border crossing.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bombarded the Ras al-Ain area on the border with Turkey on Sunday, days after the town fell to rebels during an advance that has sent thousands of refugees fleeing for safety.

Kurdish rebels attacked Turkish military units in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, sparking clashes in which 10 rebels and eights soldiers died, authorities said. The attack happened in Daglica area of Hakkari province, which borders northern Iraq's Kurdish areas.