The U.S. deployed a half-dozen F-16 fighter jets and 300 personnel to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base on Sunday in a long-awaited move that allows for speedier airstrikes against Islamic State targets in neighboring Syria.
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Ankara opened the Incirlik Air Base to the anti-IS combat efforts last month, while at the same time beginning its own air campaign against Islamic State as well as the Kurdish separatist group, PKK.
“This follows Turkey’s decision to host the deployment of U.S. aircraft conducting counter-ISIL operations”. The planes come from the 31st Fighter Wing, based at Aviano airbase in Italy.
A Nusra Front statement dated Sunday criticized a Turkish-U.S. plan to drive Islamic State from the Syrian-Turkish border area, saying the aim was to serve “Turkey’s national security” rather than the fight against President Bashar al-Assad. Personnel also arrived with the jets and will be involved in the fight against ISIS. It will now be able to carry out air strikes from the base. Turkish officials have warned that this is far from over and that the hundreds of arrests don’t mean that the group will stop planning attacks. The deteriorating situation was highlighted today when two women attacked the US consulate in Istanbul, following a bomb attack on a police station overnight.
Islamic fighters from the Al Qaeda group in the Levant, Al-Nusra Front, wave their movement’s flag as they parade at the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, south of Damascus, in July 2014.
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, recently said that the country will start a “comprehensive battle” against Islamic State after the arrival of US aircraft and drones.
IS militants tried to advance towards villages in the countryside of Qamishli, which led to the outbreak of clashes between the radical group and the Kurdish forces.
“If this isn’t enough, then Dawlah (Islamic State) also provides your family with the basic household items, such as a washing machine, fridge, cooker, carpets, mattresses and some other kitchen items”, the blog said.
The al-Qaida affiliate has emerged as one of the most powerful rebel groups in the country, entering coalitions with other opposition fighters, most notably in the northern province of Idlib where it has scored a series of victories against the Assad regime along with their allies.
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After the consulate attack in Istanbul, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, a leftist anti-American group that has been banned in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the rampage and identified the suspect captured by the police as Hatice Asik, 51.
