Syrian hard-line faction backs US-Turkey plans for safe zone

The US Air Force (USAF) has deployed six F-16 Fighting Falcons multirole jet fighters and 300 personnel to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, in a bid to support Operation Inherent Resolve.

With joint military action planned between the US and Turkey to clear the Islamic State militants in an area of Syria just over the Turkish border, the Allies have already begun their airstrikes against the terrorists.

Turkey has been active in the fight against the Islamic State, launching airstrikes at the group last month.

On the safe zone plan, the U.S. has said that IS would be replaced by moderate rebel factions in the area on the border with Turkey.

The fighter jets arrived 9 August from Aviano Air Base in Italy, and are set to join the multinational air campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. “Turkey seems to be pushing the U.S. into a corner right now, leaving powerful groups in the prospective zone and presenting what it sees as the most effective ground force to produce and defend a “safe” or “ISIL-free” zone”.

Several rebels fled after the attack at their compound, as many as five were believed to be captured, and some never even made it to the compound, having gotten stuck in Turkey and unable to make it across the border.

Last week, a senior US official confirmed that one of the newly trained fighters had been killed and two others wounded in an attack by the Nusra Front on their base.

The attack targeted the police station in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli neighborhood and caused a fire that collapsed part of the three-story building, the agency reported.

“The U.S. and Turkey are finalizing technical details for Turkey’s full inclusion in these coalition operations”, Pentagon spokesman Maj.

Last month, Al Nusra Front said it had detained US-trained rebels in northern Syria and warned others to abandon a programme to train and equip an insurgent force to fight Daesh. The move followed a suicide bombing blamed on ISIL which killed 32 people and after ISIL militants fired at Turkish soldiers from across the border in Syria, killing one soldier.

The assaults took Washington by surprise, with US officials stating that although they anticipated potential attacks from IS or Syrian Army forces, they had expected Al-Nusra Front to welcome the group as an ally in the fight against a common enemy in IS.

The safe zone would have “positive effects, from the humanitarian, military, and political perspectives that will serve the interests of both countries”, the group’s online statement said.

Islamic State has launched 22 of the handfuls of Assyrian Christians it kidnapped from villages in northeastern Syria earlier this yr, a monitoring group stated on Tuesday.