March 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish military and coalition forces launched airstrikes at Islamic State (IS) targets in northern Iraq on Saturday after the militant group attacked a military base near Bashika region in Musul province, Turkish armed forces said in a written statement.

The coalition forces destroyed four IS positions, and Turkish air forces subsequently hit another four IS targets, said the statement.

The joint airstrike came after clashes between Kurdish fighters of the northern Iraqi Kurdistan administration at military base in Bashika and IS militants in the region.

On March 24, the Turkish military destroyed the IS positions repelling an attack by the militant group, which was the fourth assault since December against the military camp which is relatively close to IS-held Mosul.

The IS militants launched their first attack on the military camp on Dec. 16 just after Turkey deployed around additional 150 troops to the Bashiqa area in December earlier with aim of training an Iraqi Sunni militia to fight IS. In a second assault on Dec. 27, five Turkish soldiers were injured.

Turkish soldiers killed 17 Islamic State militants in January while the IS group tried to leak into the camp.

The Turkish deployment in Iraq, which Ankara says aims to train Sunni forces against IS, however, have caused a row between Turkey and Iraq as the latter claimed the presence of Turkish troops to the camp was violation of the country's sovereignty.

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News

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