ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey launched an overnight military operation to evacuate troops guarding an Ottoman tomb in Syria, Turkish state-run television reported early Sunday.
TRT television broadcaster said ground troops backed by warplanes crossed into Syrian territory to evacuate troops guarding the tomb, just over the border near the town of Kobani.
Private NTV television said one soldier was killed in the operation, also which included moving the tomb into Turkey.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the report, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was expected to hold a news conference at the military headquarters on Sunday.
Kobani was the focus of U.S. airstrikes as Kurdish forces battled militants of the Islamic State group, who hold about a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in their self-declared caliphate. Turkey stayed out of the battle at the time, which saw Kurds ultimately push out the extremists.