Turkey has agreed to allow the U.S and coalition forces use its military bases for launching air strikes against the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, U.S. defense officials said Sunday.
It also agreed to train around 4000 Syrian opposition fighters by the U.S military. However, the fighters would be screened by the Turkish intelligence, reports the Associated Press.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel thanked Turkey's defense minister, Ismet Yilmaz, for his country's willingness to assist in the fight against the Islamic State militants.
Turkey and other American allies have been asking the U.S. to create a no-fly zone inside Syrian territory, and also a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey. However, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said two days ago that U.S. administration was ready to debate over it though it was not keenly considered.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Cairo for a Gaza aid conference, said that defense of the Syrian border town of Kobani does not define the international counterterrorism approach.
He said that the Islamic State militants have taken some parts of Kobani , but not all of it.
"There will be ups and there will be downs over the next days as there are in any kind of conflict," Kerry said, reports AP.
According to British -based monitoring group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Kurdish fighters have managed to withstand the onslaught of Islamic State militants in Kobani. The Observatory said that 36 Islamic State militants, all foreigners, were killed in the fighting on Saturday. Eight Kurdish fighters also died in the combat, it added, reports The Guardian.
