U.S.-led Airstrikes in Syria Kill 48 ISIS (Rats) Fighters, Turkey Says

U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Syria killed 48 Islamic State militant group (ISIS) fighters on Saturday, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said, quoting the Turkish military.

F-16 and A-10 warplanes killed 44 members of the militant group and injured others in Harjalah, Delha, Baragitah and Hawar Kilis, it said.
Four more members of the hardline Sunni group were killed in separate airstrikes in the Karakopru region. Gun installations and barracks were also destroyed in that attack, it said.

The airstrikes were in response to increasingly frequent ISIS attacks against opposition forces in northern Syria, Anadolu said, citing national security sources.

The Turkish border town of Kilis, which lies just across the frontier from ISIS-controlled territory of Syria, has been hit by regular rocket fire in recent weeks.

The Turkish military usually responds with artillery barrages into northern Syria, but officials have said it is difficult to hit mobile ISIS targets with howitzers. Turkish officials have said they need more help from Western allies in defending the border.