ISTANBUL: Turkey's army backed by international coalition air strikes on Wednesday launched an operation involving fighter jets and elite ground troops to drive Islamic State militants out of a key Syrian border town.
The operation, the most ambitious launched by Turkey in Syria conflict, is aimed at clearing militants from the town of Jarabulus which lies directly opposite the Turkish town of Karakamis, the prime minister's office said.
The operation began around 4:00 am local time (0100 GMT) with Turkish artillery pounding dozens of IS targets around Jarabulus.
Turkish F-16 fighter jets and coalition war planes also hit targets inside Syria. Media said an unspecified number of elite Turkish special forces were already on the ground inside Syria.
Tensions had flared across the Syria-Turkey border the previous day, following rocket fire from Jarabulus which landed inside Turkey with the Turkish army firing howitzer rounds in response.
"The Turkish Armed Forces and the International Coalition Air Forces have launched a military operation aimed at clearing the district of Jarabulus of the province of Aleppo from the terrorist organisation Daesh," the prime minister's statement said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.
The operation also appeared aimed at pre-empting any assault by Jarabulus by pro-Kurdish militias who also oppose IS but Turkey accuses of seeking to carve out a Kurdish region in northern Syria.
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