U.S. begins manned airstrikes from Turkey targeting ISIS
03:59PM Thu 13 Aug, 2015
(CNN)For the first time, the United States launched manned airstrikes from a base in Turkey against ISIS forces in Syria, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The attacks from Incirlik Air Base are part of an agreement reached last month between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.
The United States has long wanted to use Turkish bases for manned airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and parts of Iraq. Such access should shorten flight times for U.S. (and presumably allied) fighter jets -- especially into Syria, where the group calling itself the Islamic State has its de facto capital, Raqqa -- compared with taking off from bases in Iraq or aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
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