Turkey's First Coalition Air Raids Against IS

Turkey has carried out its first airstrikes as part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) forces.

Fighter jets began attacking IS positions across the border in Syria on Friday night, the country's foreign ministry said.

"The fight against the terrorist organisation is a priority for Turkey," it said.

The targets or number of planes involved was not revealed.

Turkey last month agreed to open its strategically important air bases to the coalition.

But it has been reluctant to play a leading role in the fight against the Sunni Islamists, who control large areas of Syria and Iraq, over fears of a backlash.

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On 24 July, its warplanes attacked IS fighters in Syria, but not as part of the coalition operation.

It joined the coalition bombing raids after Turkish and US officials said they had reached agreement "on the procedures and technical details" of its cooperation.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said coalition forces raided the IS-held town of Manbij in Aleppo province. It said the raids destroyed IS positions, but there was no information on casualties.

The country's private Dogan news agency said two Turkish warplanes hit four IS targets north of Aleppo.

On Thursday, IS militants seized five villages from rebel groups in northern Syria as they advanced toward the town of Marea, near the Turkish border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other groups said IS carried out a suicide bombing on the outskirts of Marea amid fierce fighting.

The IS advance is in the northern Aleppo province near where Turkey and the US have been discussing establishing an IS-free zone.

In Washington, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the Turkish airstrikes were "fully integrated" in the coalition campaign.

Turkey's deeper involvement comes a month after a suicide bombing, blamed on IS, that killed 33 people in the Turkish city of Suruc, near the Syrian border.

Earlier this month, American F-16 jets launched their first raids from the Turkish base of Incirlik, near Adana.