World Bulletin / News Desk

Eight ISIL extremists have been killed by coalition forces in seven airstrikes in northern Syria as part of Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkish Armed Forces said Friday.

In addition, two defense emplacements and two mortars of ISIL have been destroyed in the airstrikes on Jabal Khirbat al-Kanisah and Ash Shudud.

Free Syrian Army's special forces have once again taken control of the Jabal Khirbat al-Kanisah residential area, which had been captured by ISIL extremists on Tuesday.

Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield in late August to clear Syria's northern border area of extremists.

It aims to boost security along Turkey’s borders, to clean extremist groups and to protect the territorial integrity of Syria. Friday marks the 73rd day of the operation.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people are believed to have been killed -- and more than 10 million displaced -- across the war-torn country, according to UN figures.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, a Beirut-based NGO, has put the death toll from the five-year conflict at more than 470,000.