Suleyman Tapsiz, the governor for the Kilis province said the border outpost was attacked from a region under IS control.
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The U.S. has been seeking permission for months for the U.S.-led coalition to use Incirlik as a launching pad. The move to allow Turkish soil to be used to launch U.S. airstrikes appeared to mark a significant shift in approach.
American officials said access to the base in southern Turkey, not far from IS strongholds across the border in Syria, would allow the U.S.to move more swiftly and nimbly against IS targets.
A government statement said the decision for the operation was taken at a security meeting on Thursday, held after five IS militants fired from Syrian territory at the outpost and prompting Turkish retaliation that killed at least one IS militant. The officers were found shot dead in their home in the town of Ceylanpinar, located near Turkey’s border with Syria, in an attack that was not immediately clear if it was terrorism-linked.
Turkey has been negotiating an end to the PKK’s 30-year campaign for autonomy for Turkey’s estimated 14 million Kurds and is anxious about its growing influence in war-torn Syria.
Obama’s phone call with the Turkish president came two days after a suicide bomber, believed to be an ISIS member, hit a gathering of young activists in the Kurdish city of Suruc (Pirsus) near the Syrian border, killing 30 and wounding more than 150 people. The White House declined to confirm the agreement, citing operational security concerns, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama and Erdogan had discussed efforts to fight IS during their phone call Wednesday.
The agreement to deepen cooperation between the U.S. and Turkey was a promising sign for two countries whose relations have grown strained in recent years.
ANKARA/BEIRUT Turkish forces returned fire on Islamic State militants in Syria with tank shells on Thursday after a Turkish soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a cross-border firefight, the military said.
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Turkish officials say they have detained more than 500 people suspected of working with IS in the last six months.
