US F-16 fighters fly first missions from Turkey

The US launched its first F-16 fighter missions from Turkey against Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday.

The F-16 fighter missions mark an expansion of the US air campaign against the militant group that President Barack Obama has vowed to defeat without committing US ground combat troops in either Syria or Iraq.

The Pentagon announced the start of the F-16 missions but provided no details beyond saying that the warplanes struck an unspecified number of targets in Syria.

Security sources, meanwhile, stressed that Turkish fighter jets were not involved in manned US air strikes against Islamic State targets, flown for the first time from Turkey's Incirlik airbase.