The Turkish General Staff said Islamic State (IS) militants assaulted a Turkish tank in Tal El-Hawa region of northern Syria on Friday, killing three soldiers and injuring one.

It also said Turkish artillery units fired 41 shots at 15 IS targets, destroying four buildings belonging to the militant group.

The attack marks the seventh Turkish casualty in the Euphrates Shield operation, which has lasted 17 days.

On Sept. 6, three Turkish soldiers were killed and four others wounded in another IS attack on two tanks.

Four Turkish soldiers were injured on Aug. 30 when a rocket fired from the west of Syria's Jarablus region hit a tank in northern Syria.

On Aug. 27, one Tourkish soldier was killed and three others injured when the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) attacked their tanks.

On Aug. 24, the Turkish army launched the Euphrates Shield cross-border operation to drive out IS and other terrorist militants through Free Syrian Army fighters, who are bolstered by Turkish weaponry, ammunition, artillery and jets.

Source : XINHUA