Manned US jets kick-off anti-ISIL air campaign from Turkish airfield

Thought it opposes Islamic State, the Nusra Front last month attacked rebels trained as part of a U.S.-led program to bolster insurgents viewed as moderate enough to fight the ultra-hardline group.

On August. 4, an unmanned U.S. aircraft from Incirlik attacked an Islamic State target in Syria.

Closer intelligence-sharing with the Turkish military may also reduce U.S. reliance on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria to provide the location of Islamic State militants.

The directive, which was published online on Monday, said the Nusra Front would refrain from fighting Isis in a swath of northern Syria in order to avoid indirectly aiding the US-led campaign against the terror group. On Wednesday, the Pentagon said U.S. jets now based at Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey had hit their first targets in Syria, which American officials cheered as a significant step forward.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has called for the establishment of a no-fly zne over nothern Syria to to protect civilians fleeing the Islamic State (IS) group and Syrian government forces. More warrior planes are required to send soon to the new Incirlik Air Base for proceeded with backing in the exertion against the Islamic State terrorists.

But State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Wednesday that he was “not aware” of attacks in the village of Atmeh. Violence in Turkey has continued to escalate in the two weeks since the United States agreed to cooperate more closely with Turkey.

The Syrian Observatory, a UK-based group that reports on the war using sources on the ground, said at least 25 rebels and eight Islamic State fighters were killed in Marea.

Syrian economist Osama Kadi said such a move can not work without the backing of Turkey’s central bank and a monthly influx from Ankara of about 250 million Turkish lira (about $90 million) into northern Syria.

The arrival of the fighter jets in Turkey along with support equipment and around 300 personnel was confirmed by the U.S. European Command in a statement.

Washington and Ankara are not likely to see Ahrar al-Sham as a potential partner, though the group has been trying to improve its image recently.

There have been no direct Turkish airstrikes on ISIS since the day the U.S.-Turkish coalition was announced, with all emphasis going to the fight against the PKK.

Before the F-16s arrived at Incirlik, Davis said, “we had been conducting armed [unmanned aerial vehicle] flights out of Turkey that started about a week before”.