Turkey says jets strike Islamic State targets in Syria

The fighting on the Turkish border came days after a suicide bombing believed to be by Islamic State in the Turkish border town of Suruc killed 32 people, touching off waves of violence.

Kobani, where the students attacked Monday had hoped to build a library and plant trees, has come under repeated Islamic State assault and has been a rallying point for Turkey’s Kurds, many of whom suspect Ankara of covertly backing the Islamist insurgents against their brethren in Syria.

Islamic State militants fired on Turkish troops on Thursday afternoon, according to Turkish officials, killing one officer and sparking a return of fire. “There has been a move to active defence from passive defence”. In the last six months, Turkish officials say, more than 500 people suspected of working with IS have been detained. “But action won’t likely be taken unprompted”.

IS fighters attacked a Turkish border post, with the Turkish army retaliating with heavy weaponry, killing one of the militants, Turkish officials said.

A statement released by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s office said that F-16 jets had hit three IS targets in Syria during the first Turkish launched air raids against targets in Syria since IS began its advance through Iraq and Syria in 2013.

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – In a major tactical shift, Turkish warplanes struck Islamic State group targets across the border in Syria on Friday, a day after IS militants fired at a Turkish military outpost.

The Turkish military reported a series of attacks by the PKK on Wednesday, though no casualties were reported. Asked Friday about the accord, Davutoglu said an agreement that takes Turkey’s concerns into account had been reached, but did not elaborate.

The U.S. military has long operated at the Incirlik base, but Turkey had precluded its use for attacks against Islamic State. He said the aim of the strikes could also be “to help rebels on the ground control areas near the border instead of Kurdish forces”.

Reports said police raided addresses in several Istanbul districts in search of members of IS, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other militant groups.

One police officer was shot and killed and a second wounded on Thursday in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, security sources said. “Turkey will show the strongest reaction to the slightest movement that threatens it”. “There has been a move to active defence from passive defence”.

Turkey will now let the United States launch air strikes against IS from the Incirlik air base, US officials have said. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to disclose specifics.

“Even though Erdogan has so far failed to achieve his goals in Syria – the overthrow of Assad – and IS has become a problem, it is nevertheless a convenient instrument for him”, said Halil Karaveli, managing editor of The Turkey Analyst, a policy journal.