Russia, Turkey in first joint air strikes on IS

Russian and Turkish jets have carried out their first joint strikes on so-called Islamic State (IS) inside Syria, the Russian defence ministry says. IS was targeted in the suburbs of the town of al-Bab, Aleppo province, where Turkey suffered heavy casualties last month battling the group on the ground. Turkey’s military was quoted by Reuters […]

Russian and Turkish jets have carried out their first joint strikes on so-called Islamic State (IS) inside Syria, the Russian defence ministry says.
IS was targeted in the suburbs of the town of al-Bab, Aleppo province, where Turkey suffered heavy casualties last month battling the group on the ground.
Turkey’s military was quoted by Reuters as saying Russia had carried out air strikes “in co-ordination with Turkey”.
Russia and Turkey have become leading outside players in Syria’s civil war.
Al-Bab, about 20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border, has been the focus of a five-month Turkish campaign aimed at pushing back both IS and Kurdish forces.
US aircraft carried out strikes on the area earlier this week, also in co-operation with Turkey, but a joint combat operation between a Nato state like Turkey and Russia marks a highly unusual development