First US air strikes from Turkey against Daesh targets in Syria

US warplanes have carried out their first air strikes on Daesh 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 Daesh 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.

 “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.

UNITED STATES-TURKEY COALITION

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

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

 “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 commented.

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

Turkish fighter jets were not involved in the manned U.S. air strikes on Wednesday, Turkish security sources said.

Turkey agreed last month to open its strategically important bases to the U.S.-led coalition, a major policy change after years of reluctance to take a frontline role against the Islamist fighters pressing on its borders.

But Ankara has been reluctant to play a leading role in the fight against the militants, who control parts of neighbouring Syria and Iraq, citing fears of a backlash.

In July, Turkey launched air strikes against the militants in Syria for the first time.