Beirut/Ankara, Sep 24 (IANS/EFE) Warplanes Wednesday attacked 10 positions of the radical Sunni group Islamic State (IS) in the town of al-Bukamal in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zur as Turkey hinted that it might become a part of the US-led coalition's operation in Syria.
The airstrikes were similar to those carried out Tuesday by aircraft of the US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said, citing witnesses in the area.
The raids targeted barracks and bases of the Sunni extremists in areas near the Syrian border town of al-Bukamal.
The official Syrian news agency (SANA) confirmed that the airstrikes were carried out by the US and its allies at dawn Wednesday.
An activist, Mohammed al-Khalif, told Efe news agency the attacks targeted checkpoints and an industrial school which was taken over as a base by the IS.
The jihadis, who transported their dead and wounded to Iraq, did not allow civilians to leave their homes so they could not see the damage to the IS facilities, al-Khalif added.
According to a SOHR report earlier Wednesday, the raids took place at dawn in the vicinity of Kobani in the largely Kurdish-populated region which is a major IS stronghold.
The raids targeted IS supply lines and other positions between 30 and 35 km from Kobani.
In a related development, heavy fighting between the jihadis and Kurdish forces was reported early Wednesday around 10 km from the city.
Meanwhile, according to a report from Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the possibility of military intervention by his country against the IS.
Erdogan Tuesday applauded the offensive launched the day before by the US-led coalition on the IS in Syria and said Turkey studied assuming a role that included "both military and political measures" to face the jihadis.
Erdogan promised from New York, where he is participating in the UN General Assembly, that his country would do its part.
Several Turkish newspapers Wednesday reported that Turkey would join the coalition of the US and several Arab countries which Monday began to bomb the positions of the jihadis in Syria.
Some sections of the media even picked up unconfirmed reports that aircraft from Turkish territory were involved in the attacks.
However, Turkish government sources said that neither Turkish airspace nor American bases in this country had been used in the attacks on the IS.
Turkey had so far maintained an ambiguous position on the US-led alliance against the IS because of the kidnapping of 46 of its citizens by the radical group, who were recently released.
Ankara has argued that, in any case, a Turkish military intervention would depend on the plans of the US in Syria, Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan told the daily Cumhuriyet.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday the government would have to ask parliament for permission to conduct military operations in Syria and Iraq.
The government may raise the issue Oct 1.
Turkey, which now hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, has received some 150,000 Syrian Kurds fleeing the advance of the jihadis in recent days.
Authorities fear that the upsurge in fighting would cause the arrival of more refugees.
The coalition raids Tuesday hit targets in the cities of Aleppo, al-Hasakah, Raqaa and Deir al-Zur.
Last week, the IS launched an offensive to seize control of Kobani and its environs, forcing more than 200,000 people to seek refuge in Turkey.
On Monday, the US began airstrikes on the IS in Syria, along with warplanes from nations which have joined the US-led coalition.
--IANS/EFE
ab/bg
