Turkish jets joined in Mosul ops: PM
19 Oct 2016 11:06 PM GMT
Turkish air force jets joined in the air operation, backing Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga, to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul from jihadists, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.
“Our air forces took part in the coalition forces’ air operations in Mosul,” Yildirim told his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group in Ankara. The long-awaited offensive began on Monday with air and ground support from a US-led coalition. Yildirim said Turkey was “closely-watching” what was happening but did not give details on the nature of the Turkish air support.
Mosul was captured by the Islamic State (IS) jihadists in June 2014. But ahead of the offensive, Turkey and Iraq were entangled in a war of words over Turkey’s presence in Iraq. Yildirim repeated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments from Monday that Turkey would be involved in the operation and will be “at the table”.
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