This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/23/turkish-army-shells-islamic-state-positions-in-syria-for-second-day

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Turkish army shells Islamic State positions in Syria for second day Turkish army shells Islamic State positions in Syria for second day
(35 minutes later)
Turkish media is reporting that the army has shelled Islamic State positions in Syria for a second day, in response to mortar fire from across the border. Turkey has shelled Islamic State positions in Syria for a second day, as expectations grow of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the jihadis.
Two mortar rounds hit the south-eastern Turkish town of Karkamış, close to the border and facing the Syrian town of Jarablus, which is held by Isis, the CNN-Türk channel reported. With tensions flaring on the Turkey-Syria border following the bombing in the nearby city of Gaziantep that left 54 people dead, Turkish howitzers hit Isis and Kurdish rebel targets across the frontier on Monday.
Turkish artillery hit four Isis positions in Jarablus with about 60 shells at 6.30am (0330 GMT), after shelling Isis and Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria on Monday evening. In new fighting on Tuesday, two mortar rounds fired from an Isis-controlled area in Syria hit the south-eastern Turkish town of Karkamış, Turkish television reported.
Syrian activists claim that hundreds of Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters have gathered in the border area of Karkamış in preparation for an attack, a move that would deny advancing Syrian Kurdish fighters control of the town. Turkish artillery responded by hitting four positions around the Isis-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus with about 60 shells, it said.
The Syria rebels – groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army – are expected to launch the attack from Turkey in the next few days. About 10 Turkish tanks were seen in a village 2.5 miles (4km) from the border gate immediately across from Jarablus. It was not clear how long the tanks had been there. Turkey has been shaken by one of the bloodiest years in its modern history, with a string of attacks by Isis and Kurdish militants and an attempted coup on 15 July.
The artillery exchanges on Monday and Tuesday come after a suicide bombing at a wedding in a Turkish city near the Syrian border at the weekend killed 54 people. The shelling came as Syrian activists said hundreds of Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters have gathered in the border area of Karkamış in preparation for an offensive against Isis to seize control of Jarablus.
Turkey initially blamed the blast on a child bomber linked to Isis, believing it was timed as retaliation for offensives by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against Isis in Syria. This could potentially put them on a collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD), which Ankara vehemently opposes and also has its eyes on Jarablus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from Isis.
But the government rowed back on Monday evening, with the prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, saying the early information was wrong and that ministers “do not have a clue” who carried out the attack. Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the Turkish shelling in Syria aimed to prevent the advance of troops backed by Kurds towards Jarablus.
Yıldırım has said Ankara will take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to prevent the country from being divided along ethnic lines. Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-connected columnist for the Hürriyet newspaper, said the Turkey-backed offensive could begin at any moment.
Turkey regards the Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD) as a terror group, though Washington, Ankara’s ally in the fight against Isis, sees the Kurdish militias as having an important role in the fight. The plan has not been confirmed by the Turkish authorities but the foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said on Monday that the border area had to be “totally cleansed” of jihadis.
This question, along with the issue of US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, blamed by Turkey for last month’s failed coup, will be on the table when the American vice-president, Joe Biden, visits Ankara for talks on Wednesday. The movements have come at a critical juncture for Turkey in Syria’s five-and-a-half-year war, with signs growing it is on the verge of a landmark policy shift.
Ankara has always called for the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russia.
However, over the weekend the prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, acknowledged for the firs time that Assad was one of the “actors” in Syria and may need to stay on as part of a transition.
On Monday, he urged world powers including Iran, Russia and the United States to join together to rapidly open a “new page” in the Syria crisis.
“It is essential that all the parties come together to stop the bloodshed in Syria,” said Yıldırım, whose naming as prime minister earlier this year was seen as heralding a less confrontational Turkish foreign policy.
But he also warned it was “unacceptable” for Kurds to seek to establish any kind of separate entity in northern Syria.
Turkey regards PYD as a terror group, although Washington, Ankara’s ally in the fight against Isis, sees its militias – the powerful Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – as having an important role in the fight.
The US vice-president, Joe Biden, is due to visit Ankara on Wednesday for talks with Turkey’s leadership, and Syria is set to be a crucial issue.
There is confusion over who was behind the attack on a Kurdish wedding party in Gaziantep, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initially saying the suicide bomber was a child aged 12-14 acting on the orders of Isis.
However, on Monday Yıldırım said Turkey still had no clue who carried out the attack and said all “rumours” over the age and affiliation of the bomber should be taken with a pinch of salt.