IS militants exchange fire with Turkish forces near Syrian border town

The Islamic State (IS) group exchanged fire with the Turkish forces near a Syrian border town in northern Syria Thursday, a monitor group reported.

The fire exchange took place near the town of Rai in the northern countryside of Aleppo, the last area the IS militants have been using as a conduit to move between Syria and Turkey since the Kurdish fighters captured the border city of Tal Abyad from the IS hands last month, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Other activists reported that the Turkish tanks returned fire from the IS-controlled town, adding that Turkish army scrambled fighter jets to Syrian border after the eruption of clashes.

Initial photos appeared online, purporting to show Turkish tanks shooting at IS targets in continuing border fighting.

Reports emerging from the clashes site said four Turkish tanks retaliated to IS fire and destroyed targets of the terror group in Syria.

Turkish Dogan News Agency reported tanks and armored vehicles were sent to border area amid ongoing clashes.

The exchange of fire between the IS and the Turkish army is the first to be witnessed since the terror-labeled group captured swathes of territories in northern Syria.

The Syrian government and some opposition activists repeatedly accused Turkey of facilitating the infiltration of the IS militants and other jihadi groups into Syria.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Observatory, said recently that the Turkish authorities must be held responsible for allowing tens of thousands of jihadists to cross into Syria.

"The international community must investigate how the Turkish government allowed tens of thousands of jihadists to enter Syria to become a plague on the Syrian people," Abul-Rahman said. Endit