Isis in Syria: Turkish jets pound IS targets as Ankara allows US to use Incirlik air base

Turkish jets have begun pounding Islamic State (Isis) targets in Syria days after the border town of Suruç witnessed a deadly suicide bombing.

The prime minister's office said three F-16 fighter jets carried out the strikes at about 04:00 am hitting at least three IS targets.

"Four guided bombs targeted two headquarters and an assembly point," the statement read. The operation was codenamed Yalçın Nane after the military contractor who died recently during fighting with IS militants.

CNNTürk reported that Turkish jets launched the missiles from their country's airspace without entering the neighbouring Syrian territory.

"The state of the Republic of Turkey is decisive in taking any precaution to safeguard its national security," the Turkish government statement added.

Turkish police have also stormed dozens of locations in Istanbul which are suspected to be used by IS militants and Kurdish armed groups. The raids took place in about 26 districts and were led by more than 5,000 Turkish police officers.

The Turkish airstrikes against IS targets, the first since the militant organisation began capturing territories in Syria and Iraq, came shortly after the Ankara administration allowed the US to use its key air base, Incirlik.

The base is likely to give the coalition airstrikes an edge as Raqqa, an IS stronghold in Syria, could become easily reachable.

Though US authorities have not yet formally commented on the specifics of the arrangement with Turkey, both US defence officials and Turkish sources have confirmed it to multiple news outlets.

One Obama administration official described the deal to the New York Times as a "game-changer" in the offensive against IS in Syria and Iraq.

When specifically asked about the Incirlik air base, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said: "I'm not able to talk about some of those issues because of specific operations security concerns."

Details about the latest plan emerged after President Barack Obama's telephone conversation with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during which the two leaders agreed to "deepen" the cooperation against IS.