Turkish-backed opposition fighters are in a race with Syrian government forces to seize the town of al-Bab from militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. It comes as Turkey's president has promised his forces will press on towards the I-S stronghold of Raqqa.
Omar Dabbagh has the details.
Turkish forces are continuing their four-month-old Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria in an effort to push I-S militants away from Turkey's border.
Central to that operation is seizing the town of al-Bab, 30 kilometres south of the border.
Al-Bab is the last I-S stronghold in the besieged province of Aleppo.
Along with Turkey's military, Turkish-backed Free Syria Army rebels are pressing ahead with a major offensive on al-Bab.
They say they are close to liberating it.
In his update on the al-Bab offensive, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also mapped out his government's future plans in Syria.
"After this, the next targets in the east are Manbij and Raqqa. We shared our thoughts with the new US administration and CIA, and we will follow the developments in line with our stance. The ultimate goal is to establish a safe zone by cleansing a 4,000-to-5,000-square-kilometre area from the terrorists."
Turkey's military has carried out a number of air strikes targeting alleged I-S positions in Syria's north.
Turkey says yesterday's air strikes and ground operations targeted more than 170 I-S positions, killing at least 42 militants.
A tunnel network said to have been used by I-S militants was also uncovered in al-Bab.
Turkey's al-Bab advance risks putting it in direct conflict with Syrian government forces, who are closing in on the city from the south.
But Turkey is now partially collaborating with Russia in a bid to navigate around Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's troops.
That comes despite Russian air strikes accidentally killing three Turkish soldiers over the weekend.
Turkey prime minister Binali Yildirim says there will be closer coordination to avoid further incidents.
"The Kremlin made a statement yesterday. Our president spoke to Mr Putin. He said this was an accident and they are sorry. We will coordinate and take all necessary measures to prevent similar incidents."
Raqqa was not a goal for Turkey when its northern Syria offensive began.
US-allied Kurdish YPG militia fighters, seen by Turkey as a hostile force, largely surround it now.
British defence spokesman Michael Fallon says the Western-backed Syrian forces, which include the YPG, are closing in on Raqqa.
"Syrian democratic forces are now moving towards Raqqa and preparing to isolate the city from the north and from the west. I hope that isolation will be completed by the spring, and then operations to liberate Raqqa itself can begin thereafter. And once Raqqa is liberated, after Mosul, we will see the beginning of the end of this terrible caliphate."
Turkey's tense relationship with the West, as well as its standoff with the Syrian government, has drawn the ire of the United Nations.
Speaking about Syria's crippling civil war as a whole, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says IS, also known as Daesh, (di-ESH) must be defeated.
But he says there must be what he calls an "inclusive" political solution.
"It's very important to fight Daesh, it's very important to combat terrorism in Syria. But we will never be successful in fighting terrorism in Syria if an inclusive political solution is not found for the Syrian people."
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