Turkey on Tuesday bombarded Islamic State (IS) militant group’s targets in northern Syria amid reports that Syrian rebels are to launch an offensive against the group.
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Turkey is hoping to see Jarabulus taken by a coalition of what they are describing as “moderate” rebels, but which in practice includes the al-Qaeda linked Ahrar al-Sham, which are preparing to attack the city from across the border.
The town is 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the town of Manbij, which was liberated from IS by Kurdish-led forces earlier this month.
No one has claimed responsibility, but the style of the attack and the type of bomb used were similar to previous blasts blamed on Islamic State.
Turkey retreated Monday from an earlier claim that a child suicide bomber had carried out an attack on a Kurdish street wedding in Gaziantep that left 54 people dead and dozens wounded.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Ankara on Monday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that”.
He said rebels had recently successfully removed ISIS from al-Rai, another Syrian town on the Turkish border being used as a transit point by the terror group, and said Turkey would continue to give support to drive ISIS from the border.
US-backed Kurdish forces have been eager to drive ISIS out and to remove the group’s access to resupply of materiel and fighters from Turkey.
But while Turkey and the Kurdish YPG share a common enemy in ISIS, Turkey remains determined to keep the Kurdish fighters from advancing on its border.
Ankara is concerned about the growing power of USA -backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it says are linked to Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
In the latest southeast violence, two Turkish security force members and five PKK militants were killed in clashes and attacks in three areas of eastern Turkey over the last 24 hours, officials said.
Three bomb attacks blamed on the PKK struck in quick succession in Turkey last week, killing 11 people and wounding almost 300 others.
Hurriyet reported on its website that Turkey’s military responded by launching 40 rounds, hitting four IS target.
“One possible explanation is that ISIS is upset about Kurdish military victories in northern Syria because it’s the Kurdish fighters who are really leading the charge there against the ISIS fighters”, he says.
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Turkish authorities have been unable to identify the attack thus far, and Yildirim said that talk of the bomber being a child was only “rumors” but said that security services would find out who carried out the bomb blast.
