Reports: Turkish jets hit ISIS in Syria, Kurds in Iraq
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish jets flying from a base in Turkey's southeast have struck Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets across the border in Syria for the second straight night, Turkish news reports said Saturday. The fighter jets also hit camps of Kurdish PKK militants in northern Iraq, the reports said.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the airstrikes reported by the state-run TRT television and other media. If confirmed, it would be the first time Turkey has struck Kurds in northern Iraq since a peace deal was announced in 2013 between Ankara and the rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The private Dogan news agency said the Turkish jets were targeting PKK training facilities, shelters and anti-aircraft batteries in northern Iraq.
Tensions have flared with Kurds in recent days after an ISIS suicide bombing in the southeastern Turkish city of Suruc on Monday killed 32 people. Kurdish groups blame the Turkish government for not combatting IS.
On Wednesday, the PKK claimed responsibility for the killing of two Turkish policemen near the Kurdish majority city of Sanliurfa, near the Syrian border.
In other attacks, seven police officers were injured after suspected PKK militants hurled a small bomb at a police station in Bismil town, near the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, the Dogan news agency reported Friday. Assailants also hurled a small bomb at officers inside a police vehicle in the town of Semdinli, near the border with Iraq, the agency said.
Turkey started attacking ISIS positions after the suicide bombing and an ISIS ambush that killed a Turkish soldier.
On Friday, three F-16 jets struck IS targets that included two command centers and a gathering point near the Turkish border in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine ISIS militants were killed in the raids.
Earlier Friday, thousands of police rounded up suspected ISIS operatives - as well as members of other militant groups in dawn raids, reports CBS News correspondent Holly Williams. Nearly 300 were arrested.
Yet Turkey's critics say that, until now, Turkey had failed to stop the flow of fighters crossing through its territory to Syria - where many joined ISIS.
One reason for the turnaround could be the surge in violence on Turkey's border, including a suicide bomb on Monday that killed over 30 people.
Another factor could be pressure from the U.S. After nine months of negotiations, Turkey gave permission to the U.S.-led coalition this week to launch airstrikes against ISIS from its Incirlik airbase.