Turkish tanks 'roll into Syria in attack on IS fighters'

Turkey has sent tanks into Syria as it stages a major assault on so-called Islamic State fighters just over its border, according to the Dogan news agency.

Witnesses reported seeing plumes of smoke rising from the Syrian side of the border in an assault apparently conducted together with Turkish-backed rebels in Syria.

The rebel group later said it had taken the control of the border village Arab Ezza from IS, a claim supported by the independent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

If confirmed, the assault would mark Turkey's latest intervention in the Syrian civil war as the state takes an increasingly aggressive stance over the conflict.

Turkey also sent armed forces over the border last month in an attack with Turkish-backed rebels which reportedly forced out IS from its former stronghold in the Syrian town of Jarablus.

However, president Erdogan has faced strong criticism after his forces also targeted Kurdish fighters.

The state fears that the YPG Kurdish fighters in Syria could bolster a separatist Kurdish movement within Turkey.