Turkey, Syrian rebels fight ISIS

Turkish tanks backed by fighter jets and special forces rolled into Syria Wednesday in an unprecedented operation to drive Islamic State jihadists out of a key Syrian border town.

The air and ground operation also involving Syrian fighters — the most ambitious launched by Ankara in the Syria conflict — is aimed at clearing jihadists from the town of Jarabulus directly opposite Turkey.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasised the operation was also targeting Kurdish militia fighters opposed by Ankara who had also been closing in on IS-held Jarabulus.

The operation — named “Euphrates Shield” — began around 1 am GMT with Turkish artillery pounding dozens of IS targets around Jarabulus, the Prime Minister’s office said.Turkish F-16 fighter jets, backed by international coalition war planes, also hit targets inside Syria. An AFP photographer saw around a dozen Turkish tanks cross into Syria in support of Syrian opposition fighters.

Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed the Syrian fighters had crossed from Turkey into Syria. Turkish authorities had late Tuesday ordered the evacuation of Karkamis for safety reasons, raising expectations that an offensive was imminent.

Ankara was long accused of turning a blind eye to the rise of IS in Syria and even aiding its movements to-and-fro across the border, claims the government had always vehemently denied.

The launch of the operation comes as US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ankara to meet Mr Erdogan, with agreeing a unified strategy on Syria set to be a crucial issue.

Pro-Ankara Syrian rebels on Wednesday seized Keklijah village inside Syria from IS jihadists as part of the Turkey-led operation against the extremist group, Turkish state media said.