Turkish forces bomb Islamic State in Syria

International media report that Turkey's government says it has bombed Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria. Yesterday the two forces exchanged fire near the border leaving one soldier dead and two more wounded.

US officials have recently said that Turkey is to let the US carry out air strikes against the Islamic State group from a key military base near the Syrian border, and Turkish police have also launched raids to arrest suspect IS militants on Friday morning in 140 locations in Istanbul.

The raids, carried out in 26 districts of the city and involving some 5,000 officers, resulted in the arrest of even members of the youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

A statement released by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's office said that F-16 jets had hit three IS targets in Syria during the first Turkish launched air raids against targets in Syria since IS began its advance through Iraq and Syria in 2013.

According to the BBC, the decision to carry out the attacks was taken at a security meeting called after Thursday's border clashes.

Turkish state TV reported that the jets had not violated Syrian air space as they attacked the border town of Havar.

The US is expected to step up bombing raids against IS after reaching an agreement with Turkey to use the Incirlik airbase. The agreement was finalised in a phone call between President Barack Obama and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, according to the BBC.

The New York Times reports a US official saying that the use of the Incirlik airbase was a "game changer", as it “broadens the US military's ability to strike IS targets”.

The paper reports that the base, situated near Turkey's long border with Syria,  was once used in raids against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and it significantly narrows the distance to the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

Turkey has been in the coalition against IS from the beginning, but it was not fully cooperating due to its differing views over the Syrian crisis. It argued that the first priority of an international coalition should be removing President Assad rather than attacking IS.

The negotiations between the US and the Turkish government came to fruition as recent attacks by IS against Turkish and Kurdish targets added an urgency to their response.  

Thursday saw a deadly exchange of fire between Islamic State and Turkey near the town of Kilis, following the deadly bombing in the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc, in which 32 people were killed, mostly university students.

The Turkish authorities blamed the attack on IS, with the bomber identified as a 20-year-old believed to have travelled to Syria last year with the help of an IS-linked group.

Turkey would take "all necessary measures" to protect national security following the attacks, the prime minister's office said.