(MENAFN- Arab Times) In a major tactical shift, Turkish warplanes struck Islamic State group targets Friday across the border in Syria, Turkish officials announced - a move that came a day after IS militants fired at a Turkish military outpost. A Syrian rights group said the airstrikes killed nine IS fighters. Turkey, which spans the intersection of Europe and Asia and borders the Middle East, had long been reluctant to join the USled coalition against the extremist group. In a related, long-awaited development, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that Turkey had agreed to let the US use a key base in southern Turkey for military operations against the militants "within a certain framework."
He did not elaborate on the agreement, which a US official said was reached during a phone call this week with President Barack Obama. Turkish police also launched a major operation Friday against terror groups including Islamic State, carrying out simultaneous raids in Istanbul and 12 provinces and detaining more than 290 people. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the airstrikes Friday had "removed potential threats" to Turkey, hitting their targets with "100 percent accuracy." He did not rule out further airstrikes, saying Turkey was determined to stave off all terror threats against it.
"This was not a point operation, this is a process," Davutoglu said. "It is not limited to one day or to one region " the slightest movement threatening Turkey will be retaliated against in the strongest way possible." A government official said three F-16 jets took off from Diyarbakir air base in southeast Turkey early Friday and used smart bombs to hit three IS targets.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of government rules requiring authorization for comment, said the targets were two command centers and a gathering point for IS supporters. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the three Turkish airstrikes were all near the border, and struck north of the village of Hawar al- Nahr, east of the Rai area and west of the town of Jarablous. He said the airstrikes killed nine IS fighters, wounded 12 others and destroyed at least one IS vehicle and a heavy machine gun.
The private Dogan news agency said as many as 35 IS militants were killed in the airstrikes but did not cite a source. The Observatory also reported that an airstrike targeted a post near the border with Turkey for al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front. It said it was not clear if Turkish warplanes or those of the US-led coalition struck the Nusra Front position. Davutoglu said Turkish planes did not violate Syrian airspace on Friday, but he did not rule out incursions in the future.
He denied news reports claiming that Turkey had told the Syrian regime about the airstrikes, but said it had contacted NATO allies before the operation. The agreement on Incirlik follows months of US appeals to Turkey and delicate negotiations over the US-led coalition using Incirlik or other bases. When asked Friday about the accord, Davutoglu said an agreement that takes Turkey's concerns into account had been reached, but did not elaborate.
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