Thirty-eight Islamic State militants have been killed in northern Syria during 24 hours of clashes, marking an escalation in the area where rebels backed by Turkey are fighting the jihadists.
Supported by Turkish tanks and air strikes, rebels have been pushing towards the IS stronghold of Dabiq in an operation launched in late August.
Fourteen of the fighters were killed as they attempted to enter the rebel-controlled villages of Akhtarin and Turkmen Bareh, three kilometres east of Dabiq, the Turkish army said in a statement.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday IS fighters had captured those villages in a counter attack near the Turkish border but the Turkish military statement contradicted this.
Another 17 IS fighters were killed in air strikes by US-led coalition warplanes in the same areas, the military said in its daily round-up on the operation, dubbed "Euphrates Shield".
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Turkish warplanes later launched their own air strikes against IS targets in northern Syria on Sunday morning, killing seven militants and destroying five buildings which they were using, the army said in a subsequent statement.
The military also said two Syrian rebels had been killed and 19 wounded in the latest fighting against IS. The operation has also targeted a Kurdish militia whose presence along its border Turkey sees as a threat.
