Turkish planes begin strikes against IS targets inside Syria

Turkish fighter jets early Friday bombed the positions of Islamic State (IS) jihadists inside Syria for the first time, as police arrested hundreds of suspected extremists after a wave of violence. The air raids against IS targets marked a dramatic hardening of Turkey's attitude toward the group. Ankara had previously been criticized for not doing enough to combat the jihadists. IS members were among almost 300 suspected extremists arrested in early morning raids in Istanbul and other cities, authorities said. Kurdish militants and radicals were also detained. The operations came after the first major cross-border clashes between Turkey and IS jihadists on Thursday left one Turkish soldier and one militant dead, thrusting Turkey into an open conflict with the Islamists. The bombing raid was the first by the Turkish air force on IS since the extremists began their advance across Iraq and Syria in 2013, seizing control of swathes of territory right up to the Turkish border. It also came as Turkey, after months of negotiations, finally gave the green light for the US to use a key air base in its south for air strikes against IS. After taking off from the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir three Turkish F-16 planes dropped four guided bombs against three IS targets, a statement from the prime minister's office said. The planes struck just before 4:00 am local time and then returned to their base. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Turkish war planes were "100 percent" successful in eliminating their targets.