Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey, under Western pressure to stop aiding Al Qaida-aligned militias in Syria, has attacked the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

The statement on Oct. 16 marked the first time Turkey reported an attack on ISIL, said to be the fastest growing and most powerful militia in northern Syria.

Western diplomats said Ankara has long turned a blind eye to ISIL activities, including recruitment and smuggling fighters and weapons from Turkey.

The Turkish military said artillery units targeted an ISIL position near Azaz, located along the Syrian border with Turkey. In a statement, the military said ISIL had been firing mortars inside Turkey.

“Four artillery rounds were fired on Oct. 15 against a position near the town of Azaz held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” the military said.

Azaz was one of several towns controlled by ISIL along the 900-kilometer
Syrian-Turkish border. ISIL, which operates checkpoints to the Turkish
border, also controls the northern provincial capital of Raqa as well as
transit points to Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Analysts said ISIL has been hampered by Turkish security forces. They
said this prompted the ISIL shelling of a Turkish police station.

“The Turks realized that the ISIL is nothing more than a destructive
terrorist group,” Saudi analyst Abdul Rahman Al Rashed said.

  900-kilometer border with Syria, Azaz, In first, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, Turkey launches attack on Syrian rebels aligned with Al Qaida