World

Turkey vows to follow up IS strikes

July 24, 2015 6:18 pm

Turkey has vowed to keep up a crackdown on Islamic State (IS) militants, after launching its first air strikes against their positions in Syria.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the strikes were part of a broad “process”.

Turkey arrested IS suspects on Friday. It has also said it would let the US use a key airbase to attack IS targets.

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A suspected IS bombing killed 32 people in the Turkish town of Suruc this week. IS fighters have since clashed with Turkish troops at the Syrian border.

One Turkish soldier was also killed in the exchange of fire at a border post near the Turkish town of Kilis on Thursday.

On Friday, Turkish F-16 jets, based in Diyarbakir, bombed three IS targets in Syria, officials said.

Turkish state TV said the jets had attacked the border village of Havar, next to the Turkish town of Kilis – and had not violated Syrian air space.

However, a fresh attack on IS targets later on Friday did see Turkish jets entering Syrian air space, broadcasters CNN-Turk and NTV reported.