Turkish tanks cross border into Syria to attack IS

A dozen Turkish tanks have rolled across the Syrian border to clear a town of Islamic State militants.

The operation, code named "Euphrates Shield" is aimed at clearing jihadists from the town of Jarabulus which lies directly opposite the Turkish town of Karakamis, the prime minister's office said.

Jarablus lies along the west bank of the Euphrates River, less than a kilometer from Turkey. It's the last major town held by IS on the Syrian-Turkish border.

The operation began around 4:00 am local time (0100 GMT) with Turkish artillery pounding dozens of IS targets around Jarabulus.

Turkish F-16 fighter jets and coalition war planes also hit targets inside Syria. Media said an unspecified number of elite Turkish special forces were already on the ground inside Syria.

Tensions had flared across the Syria-Turkey border the previous day, following rocket fire from Jarabulus which landed inside Turkey with the Turkish army firing howitzer rounds in response.

Turkey will want to show with the operation that it is serious about taking on IS, which has been blamed for a string of attacks inside the country, the latest a weekend attack on a Kurdish wedding in Gaziantep that left 54 dead.

Representative image. Photograph: Murad Sezer/Reuters