Turkey sends 1,000 more special troops

While international focus is on the devastating bombing going on in Aleppo, another offensive is taking place, much of it in the shadows, which could be a game-changer in Syria's bloody civil war.

The Turkish military, with armour, air-power and troops on the ground – a thousand of them special forces – are moving deeper into Syria, along with Syrian opposition fighters, setting up a “security zone” across the border, reports Independent.

Operation Euphrates Shield has been marked for Ankara by increasing acrimony with Washington and warming of relations with Moscow. The Turkish forces have attacked Kurdish fighters who are America's key allies in the fight against IS, while Russia, busy securing Aleppo for ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has given tacit approval for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's actions in northern Syria.

Turkey's parliament on Saturday overwhelmingly approved a one-year extension of an existing mandate to use Turkish troops abroad in Syria and Iraq.

The mandate was first approved by parliament in October 2014 and was renewed for another year in September 2015, reports AFP.

It allows military action in Turkey's two southern neighbours against IS and other groups deemed by Ankara to be terror organisations. According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, the new mandate will run until October 30, 2017.

In his speech marking the opening of parliament, Erdogan said the initial goal of the Syria operation was to create a "safe area free of terror organisations" some 5,000 square kilometres in size.

Erdogan hailed the results of the operation so far in the Syrian town of Jarabulus, saying its population had expanded from 2,000 to 40,000 since being captured from IS.