World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkish armed forces on Monday launched artillery strikes on separate targets of ISIL and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia in northern Syria, television reports said.

Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey fired on ISIIL targets in the town ofJarablus and PYD targets around the area of Manbij, the CNN-Turk and NTV channels reported.

Turkey was deploying tanks and heavy weaponry on the border for the strikes, the reports added.

The reports came after as activists said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group in Syria.

This offensive coincides with a similar move by Syrian Kurdish militia, potentially putting them on a collision course in the fight for ISIL-held Jarablus.