Turkey strikes IS as Syria border tensions flare

ISTANBUL: Turkey vowed Tuesday to give full support to efforts to free a key Syrian border town from the control of Islamic State (IS) jihadists as anticipation grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group.

Turkish forces also pounded jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes after a deadly suicide bombing in the city of Gaziantep at the weekend and repeated rocket fire across the border.

Activists have said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of the Syrian town of Jarabulus, which lies opposite the town of Karkamis in Turkey.

Without confirming the operation, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged to give "all kinds of support" to push the jihadists out of Jarabulus.

"We do not want Daesh (IS) to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters. In an interview with private NTV television, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey saw Jarabulus "as a national security matter".

"What we have said, since the beginning, is that having Jarabulus or any other city held by IS is unacceptable," he said.
The authorities also ordered residents to vacate Karkamis and the surrounding area for safety reasons after the rocket fire, although there was no indication this was linked to the impending operation.

"Residents of the town centre and six neighbourhoods (are) advised to relocate to more secure areas," the local governor´s office said in a statement.

Nine mortar rounds fired from Jarabulus hit the centre of the town while two more hit another neighbourhood, it added.
No casualties or injuries reported.

Turkish artillery responded by shelling IS positions around Jarabulus.