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Turkey Strikes at Islamic State With Artillery and Drones, Killing Dozens of Militants

Turkish officials said that the attacks on IS in Syria have killed 34 militants, destroyed six vehicles, and flattened five gun positions, in response to IS rockets that hit southern Turkey.
People run after a rocket fires from Syria landed in Kilis, Turkey on April 19. Photo via AP

Multiple attacks by Turkey on the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria have killed 34 militants, destroyed six vehicles, and flattened five IS gun positions, according to the Turkish military.

Shelling by artillery and fire from drones which took off from southern Turkey struck the IS targets on Sunday. A military spokesperson said the strikes were in response to IS rocket attacks that hit the southern Turkish province of Kilis.

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The border town of Kilis and surrounding area has been hit frequently by rocket fire from IS-controlled Syrian territory in recent months, killing civilians.

In Sunday's strikes, Turkish howitzers and multiple rocket launchers first hit IS targets about seven miles south of the border, then four drones that took off from the Incirlik base in southern Turkey destroyed further targets, the military said.

Turkey has repeatedly fired back at IS positions under its rules of engagement, but has said it needs greater support from Western allies, citing the difficulty of hitting moving targets with howitzers.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying last week that the United States would deploy a rocket launcher system near the stretch of border that has come under attack. A senior US military official confirmed the matter was under discussion but declined to comment further.

Also on Sunday, US-based analysis firm IHS reported that IS attacks have increased this year, particularly in Iraq and Syria as the group responds to substantial territorial losses.

Watch: What It's Really Like to Fight for the Islamic State:

There were 891 attacks during the first quarter of 2016 in neighbors Iraq and Syria, more than in any three-month period since the militants' sweeping advance in mid-2014, IHS said in a new report.

Those attacks killed 2,150 people, a 44 percent rise over the previous three months and the highest quarterly toll in nearly a year.

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"The group is resorting more and more to mass-casualty violence as it comes under heavy pressure from multiple angles," said Matthew Henman, head of IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center.

The US military estimates IS territory in Iraq has shrunk by about 40 percent from its 2014 peak and 20 percent in Syria.

Iraq's military routed the militants from the western city of Ramadi four months ago and then pushed further west towards the Syrian border. The northern offensive has been slower, with army and Sunni Arab tribal forces taking only four villages over the past month south of Mosul.

In Syria, government-aligned forces backed by Russian air power have recaptured territory from IS, including the ancient city of Palmyra. The group is also under pressure from a separate US-led air campaign in the north and northeast, where Kurdish fighters have advanced.

The IHS report also noted a rise in IS attacks in Libya, where the militants have grown in strength, taking over the central city of Sirte and attacking oilfields. Analysis showed almost as many attacks in the first three months of this year as in the preceding six months.

IHS said IS activity has also spiked around the northwestern town of Sabratha it described as a key staging ground for attacks in neighboring Tunisia.

"High profile, mass casualty attacks are a tried and tested method of changing the narrative and deflecting attention away from the problems it is facing," said Henman. "This is done for internal consumption just as much as external."

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