Ceasefire in Syria: Russian fighter jets eliminated 12 Daesh militants in airstrikes to Support Turkish Troops

After brokering a ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and opposition rebel groups, Russia bolstered Turkish military operations in the fight against Daesh, with three airstrikes around al-Bab.

Euphrates Shield, a Turkish operation to defend its border from terrorists, received a notable boost from Moscow. Turkish military officials announced that Russian fighter jets eliminated 12 Daesh militants in airstrikes. 

The Turkish army and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are tightening their grip on the Daesh-held city, FSA division commander Taha Atraç told Sputnik Turkey of the progress in the region. The Syrian commander expects al-Bab to be liberated "within the next few days."

We are left to fight Islamic State alone, says Turkish President Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused the international coalition battling the Islamic State group in Syria of leaving his country to fight the jihadists alone on its own soil.

"They have left us alone in our struggle against this organisation which is shedding our blood both through suicide bombings and by attacks on Kilis," he said, referring to a Turkish border town regularly targeted by rockets fired from Syria.

"In Syria none of those who say they are fighting Daesh (Islamic State) have suffered the kind of losses that we have, nor paid such a heavy price as us," added Erdogan, speaking at a film contest in Istanbul.

Boko Haram, Islamic State collaborating, military leaders say

U.S. and Nigerian military officials said an increase in collaboration between the Islamic State and the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram is "cause for alarm" for a wide swath of north and central Africa.

Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, commander of the United States military's Special Operations Command in Africa, said an IS weapons convoy from Libya, intercepted while traveling to the Lake Chad region, suggests a growing link between the two groups. Nigerian Gen. Lamidi Oyebayo Adeosun, commander of a joint African force battling Boko Haram in the Lake Chad area, echoed Bolduc's concerns, saying officials are attempting to learn more about the relationship. Last year, the Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.

"The Lake Chad basin is ground zero" in the fight against Islamic extremists in Africa, Bolduc said. He said IS and Boko Haram are sharing "tactics, techniques and procedures" in the Lake Chad region, which includes northeast Nigeria, and parts of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.