Turkey attacks Islamic State targets in Syria, Iraq in response to Istanbul bombing
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ANKARA - Turkish tanks and artillery have bombarded Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq over the past 48 hours, killing almost 200 of its fighters in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Istanbul, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday.
"After the incident on Tuesday, close to 500 artillery and tank shells were fired on Daesh positions in Syria and Iraq," he told a conference of Turkish ambassadors in the capital Ankara, using an Arabic name for Islamic State.
"Close to 200 Daesh members including so-called regional leaders were neutralized in the last 48 hours. After this, every threat directed at Turkey will be punished in kind."
Davutoglu said the Turkish strikes had targeted Islamic State positions around Bashiqa in northern Iraq, where Ankara recently deployed a force protection unit to defend Turkish soldiers who are training an Iraqi militia in the fight against the Sunni radicals.
