Turkish crackdown on Islamic State, other militants to continue – PM

“Having another axis and broader cooperation from Turkey benefits the coalition fight against ISIL”, the official said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

Reuters was unable to confirm the second round of strikes. The decision to directly confront Islamic State in alliance with the U.S. could expose Turkey to a heightened risk of attack by extremists.

The bombing is a strong tactical shift for Turkey which had long been reluctant to join the U.S.-led coalition against the extremist group.

This sparked an upsurge in violence in Turkey s Kurdish-dominated southeast, where many accuse the Turkish authorities of collaborating with IS, accusations Ankara denies.

A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plan for armed sorties from Incirlik “is being put together now”.

On July 24, the Turkish Air Force resumed the bombing of the positions of IS in Syria.

Turkey has faced increasing insecurity along its 900-km (560-mile) frontier with Syria.

Tensions have flared with Kurds in recent days after an IS suicide bombing in the southeastern Turkish city of Suruc on Monday killed 32 people.

Early on Friday, Turkish warplanes struck three IS targets in Syria.

The air strikes mean that Turkey is really joining a coalition, of which it had only been a nominal member until now.

The Turkish-Kurdish opposition People’s Democracy Party (HDP), which is seen as close to the PKK, won 13% of the vote in June’s general election.

“It wasn’t a one-night operation and it will continue with determination”, Erdogan said. “But action won’t likely be taken unprompted”.

The jets launched their missiles from Turkey, without entering the Syrian airspace.

Further strikes were reported overnight Friday on Islamic State forces in Syria, as well as a new air raids against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq, state-run broadcaster TRT and other Turkish media reported.

The agency said as many as 5,000 police officers were involved in Friday’s sweep against suspected extremists, which also targeted the PKK Kurdish rebel group and the outlawed far-left group DHKP-C.

Turkish daily Hurriyet says Turkey is mulling border reinforcement measures including observation zeppelins, a concrete border wall, fences separated by a military patrol road, observation towers and even a moat at some points.

Ercan Tastekin, the head of Ankara-based Research Center for Security Strategies (GUSAM), said the government failed to establish a professional border security agency to cope with criminal networks in terror, drug, human trafficking and smuggling activities.

Obama and Erdogan agreed in their call on Wednesday to work together to stem the flow of foreign fighters and secure Turkey’s border. US drones are already launched from the base.

The priority, he said, explaining the raids across Turkey, will be to confront the threat of domestic terrorism and protect Turkish citizens from possible retaliatory strikes.

Turkish tanks shell IS positions in Syria, killing one fighter.

The base would broaden US abilities to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State targets. Such flights have had to fly mainly from the Gulf.