Turkey starts anti-ISIS campaign in Syria

In preparation for a ground operation, Turkish fighter jets struck Islamic State targets in the Syrian border town of Jarablus.

Wednesday's operation is a part of a joint campaign by Turkish special forces and the US-led coalition to clear fighters belonging to Islamic State, also known as ISIS, from the Syria-Turkey border.

Artillery and rocket launchers rained 224 rounds on the Jarablus area, the military said, as Turkish jets bombed their first targets in Syria this year.

Tanks could later be seen moving up to the border and opening fire.

Turkish special forces are already inside Syria as part of the operation to clear IS out of Jarablus.

If Jarablus falls, the jihadists will be pushed back from the Turkish border.

Turkey has also hit Syrian Kurdish forces in the region, determined not to let them fill the vacuum if ISIS leaves its positions.

The concern in Ankara is that the Kurds could create an autonomous area close to the border which might foster Kurdish separatism within Turkey itself, our correspondent says.

In another development, counter-terror police in Turkey's main city, Istanbul, launched dawn raids targeting ISIS suspects across the city, Turley's Dogan news agency reports.