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A significant element in Erdoğan’s calculations is that he can promote a climate of fear to enable the AKP to secure a parliamentary majority in any new elections.

The seizure of Al Anad military base, once the hub of a U.S. drone war against Al Qaeda’s potent Yemen branch, would mark a significant gain for the Saudi Arabian-backed troops fighting to reclaim large tracts of territory from Shiite Muslim rebels known as Houthis.

Meanwhile, Division 30 accused Nusra Front fighters of abducting its leader and several other members earlier this week.

Turkish fighter jets struck three Islamic State targets in Syria early Friday morning, a response to intelligence suggesting a likely attack from the group, government officials said.

Fighters loyal to Yemen’s deposed president seized about 10 southern villages from Houthi forces on Tuesday, maintaining momentum in their offensive a day after capturing the country’s biggest air base, residents and loyalist sources said.

The new “defensive” air power strategy was reportedly first implemented on Friday, when U.S.-backed rebels came under fire from al-Nusra Front, a group closely affiliated with al-Qaeda.

The drone strikes come after a deeply embarrassing incident last week when a group of rebels who had gone through the training program were captured nearly immediately upon entering the country by Nusra fighters.

U.S. warplanes already struck last week, bombarding Al Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels who had attacked the Pentagon-backed force.

The new flight missions from Turkey’s base come as the U.S. launched attacks against non-Islamic State forces for the first time, according to Davis.

The child’s parents and four-year-old brother were seriously injured in the attack, suspected to have been carried out by Jewish settlers.

U.S.-backed rebels say members of al-Qaida’s branch in Syria have launched an attack on their command headquarters, killing at least five fighters and wounding more than a dozen.

Spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters a cabinet resolution to allow the use of the base by coalition aircraft “has matured”, meaning Incirlik “could be used any time, whenever needed”.

Kurdish militants have raided a Turkish police station and fired on railway workers in two separate attacks, leaving five people dead.

Turkey, which launched near-simultaneous strikes against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in Iraq and Islamic State fighters in Syria last Friday, intensified its assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq overnight.

“ Drones, helicopter gunships and commando units have been despatched to the scene”, it said, adding that one “terrorist” had been killed in the clashes.