Strikes mark the first time manned US fighter jets carried out raids after taking off from a Turkish base in a new phase in the campaign against the terror group

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

US warplanes have carried out their first air strikes on Islamic State (Isis) targets in Syria after taking off from a Turkish base, kicking off a key new phase in the campaign against the jihadists.

US drones had previously executed a single lethal air strike against an Isis target in Syria but this was the first time manned US fighter jets had carried out raids after taking off from Turkey’s strategically located Incirlik base.

Turkey is currently pressing a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against Isis jihadists in Syria and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq and south-east Turkey following a wave of attacks inside the country.

But until now the Turkish air strikes have overwhelmingly concentrated on the separatist Kurdish rebels, to the frustration of western commentators who want to see Turkey ramp up its involvement in the fight against Isis.

Using the Incirlik base outside the city of Adana in southern Turkey drastically cuts the distance needed for the US jets to fly to northern Syria compared with other launch bases farther afield in the Middle East.

“Today, the United States began flying manned counter-Isil missions from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Strikes were conducted,” Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith said, using an alternate name for the terror group.

Turkey’s Dogan news agency said three US fighter jets were seen taking off from Incirlik in the evening.

Last month, Turkey agreed to open up the base to coalition planes for bombing Isis targets in Syria following months of tough negotiations.

US deal with Turkey over Isis may go beyond simple use of an airbase Read more

The expectation now will be that Turkish forces – which so far have only carried out the most limited strikes against Isis – will also join in the bombing raids.

“Turkey and the United States will coordinate operations,” a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity in Ankara just before the Pentagon announcement.

“From our perspective, there has been a pause right now as Americans asked to wait for coordination purposes.”

Brett McGurk, deputy US envoy for the anti-Isis coalition, meanwhile wrote on Twitter that he was back in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials “to advance our joint cooperation” against Isis militants.

Turkish officials have indicated a major priority will be the establishment of a safe zone inside Syria free of Isis jihadists where some of the 1.8 million Syrian refugees Turkey is hosting could be housed. But Washington has yet to express clear enthusiasm for the idea.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be “no concessions” in Turkey’s relentless offensive against Kurdish militants, as its south-east was hit by new deadly violence.



One Turkish soldier and two suspected PKK members were killed Wednesday in clashes in the south-east that erupted when the Kurdish rebels attacked a military post in the Diyarbakir region, the army said.

“Let me put it clearly, the operations will continue,” Erdogan told local municipal chiefs at his presidential palace in Ankara.

“We will never stop in the face of all these attacks,” he added.

The state-run Anatolia news agency reported over the weekend that so far 390 “terrorists” had been killed in the campaign against the PKK.

The Turkish Kurds who want peace – but not at any price Read more

But the Kurdish rebels have hit back, leaving a 2013 truce in tatters and a peace process to end its over 30-year insurgency for autonomy and greater rights at a dead end.

According to an AFP toll, 30 members of the security forces have been killed in PKK-linked violence since the current crisis began.

In the south-eastern Hakkari province, Turkish police and protesters clashed at the funeral of a senior PKK figure, Baris Tekce, who was killed in clashes a day earlier, reports said.

Turkish authorities earlier detained at least a dozen suspected Isis members in coordinated dawn raids including in the capital Ankara and Istanbul, Anatolia news agency reported.

The authorities on Tuesday announced the arrests of 23 foreign nationals – from China, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine – who were trying to cross into Syria to join Isis via the south-eastern border town of Kilis.

In Paris, a high-ranking Turkish official told reporters that Ankara had this year expelled more than 700 people who had tried to enter Syria to join Isis.

Iran closed its main border crossing into Turkey after an Iranian truck was attacked after crossing over from the Islamic Republic, state television said Wednesday, without saying who was behind the violence.

Turkey still has no new government following 7 June legislative elections, which saw the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), founded by Erdogan, lose its overall majority.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu are to meet Thursday for what is seen a make-or-break meeting on forming a coalition.