Turkey carries out first ever strikes against Islamic State(ISIS)

Turkish Air Force. Photo by Planesspotter.com

SYRIA : Turkey has carried out its first ever strike against Islamic State. Turkish fighter jets have struck Islamic State targets in Syria as the country deployed military force for the first time against the terrorist group.

The office of the acting Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said Turkish F-16 warplanes based in Diyarbakır had attacked three ISIS targets with guided bombs at dawn on Friday, including what it described as the group’s headquarters and an assembly point. Nine Isis fighters were killed and 12 injured in the attacks, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It is first ever military action by Turkey against Islamic State. This military action might be a response to recent ISIS attack near Turkey's border. 

Late on Friday, local broadcaster NTV reported that Turkish fighter jets had re-entered Syrian airspace to launch a further attack on ISIS targets as night fell.

A Turkish official could not confirm the report of the evening attack, although another broadcaster, CNN Turk, also reported that jets had again entered Syrian airspace.

Turkey is also to allow the US-led coalition to use its Incirlik airbase and other bases in the south of the country to conduct strikes against terrorist organization Isis, the foreign ministry said on Friday. 

The announcement marks a reversal of policy that follows a cross-border attack by the militants that killed a Turkish soldier, and a suicide bombing this week that killed 32 people in the southern province of Suruç, just a few miles from the Syrian border.

Davutoğlu said on Friday that the detention of almost 300 people linked to Isis and the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) in raids across the country was just the beginning of a wider operation.