Eighteen refugees drowned in the Aegean Sea near the coast of Turkey, the country's media reported on Saturday. The refugees were travelling overnight to the Greek island of Kalymnos. Another 14 people were rescued by Turkey’s coast guard. The refugees included Syrians, Pakistanis and Iraqis, AFP reported. The refugees who were rescued were sent to a hospital in Bodrum, Turkey.

More than four million refugees have left Syria over the course of the civil war, which began in 2011. Turkey alone has taken in around two million refugees. Islamic State militants have overrun the country, which is now facing air raids from an anti-IS coalition led by the United States, and a separate offensive from Russia.