Turkey and US-led coalition hit IS group in Syria

Islamic Extremism

People hold a national flag with an image of Turkey’s founder Kemal Ataturk and a newspaper headline that reads “ S.O.S. from Kilis: we are dying” during a demonstration in Istanbul. The IS has fired almost daily rocket salvos from Syria into the Turkish border town of Kilis, which have killed 21 people and injured 70 others since mid-January. (AP Photo)

A Turkish news agency said Turkish shelling and air strikes by the U.S.-led military coalition killed 27 Islamic State militants in Syria.

Citing military sources, the state-run Anadolu agency said the militants were killed on Sunday as they were about to fire rockets toward Turkey. The Turkish border town of Kilis has been pummeled in recent months by rocket fire from IS-held territory in Syria.

International coalition warplanes began hitting IS targets inside Syria in September 2014. Turkey allows coalition jets to use its Incirlik air base, but doesn’t regularly participate in coalition air strikes.

 Turkey has suffered multiple bombings in recent months linked to IS or Kurdish militants. The military has cracked down on Kurdish rebels in the southeast and its jets periodically bomb Kurdish militiamen in Iraq.