Forty-nine Turks were freed Saturday more than three months after the Islamic State group kidnapped them in Iraq, as tens of thousands fled across the Syrian border from the advancing jihadists. It was not immediately clear what circumstances led to the Turks' release, which came as heavy clashes raged in neighbouring Syria between Kurds and Islamic State jihadists after they seized dozens of villages.
Nato member Turkey has so far been reluctant to take part in combat operations against the IS militants, or allow a US-led coalition to use its airbases for strikes against them, citing its concern over for the safety of the hostages. The news came after France mounted air strikes in Iraq, becoming the first nation to join the US campaign and boosting American efforts to unite the world against the growing threat posed by the jihadists.
The hostages, including diplomats and children, were kidnapped from Turkey's consulate in Mosul as IS-led militants overran the northern Iraqi city and then swept through much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland. "Early in the morning our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back into our country. At 5:00 am (0200 GMT) they entered the country," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, adding all were in good health.
In Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the Turkish authorities had carried out a "pre-planned, detailed and secret operation". In Syria, where IS already holds significant territory, the group gained further ground, overrunning 60 Kurdish villages near the Turkish border in a two-day offensive, a monitor said Friday. "In the past 48 hours, they have taken 60 villages, 40 on Friday alone," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. But they lost at least 18 fighters, reportedly including one of Chinese nationality, in clashes with Kurds near the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab (Kobane) that continued to rage on Saturday. Fleeing the jihadist advance, however, were some 45,000 Syrian Kurds who pour into Turkey overnight, the country's deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said Saturday.
"No country in the world can take in 45,000 refugees in one night, bring them here unharmed and find them a shelter without a problem," he said. In Iraq, French warplanes joined the US war on the jihadists, dropping two bombs on a "logistics depot of the terrorist organisation," President Francois Hollande said. Kurdish forces identified the location as Tal Mus, between the city of Mosul and Zumar.
France, as well as Britain, has already sent aircraft into Iraq's skies for surveillance missions. US aircraft have carried out 178 strikes since August 8 but President Barack Obama has been keen to build a broad international coalition. Obama plans to make his case against IS before the world at the UN General Assembly next week in a bid for greater international support in the anti-jihadist fight. "We won't hesitate to take action against these terrorists in Iraq or in Syria," Obama said of the militants. "But this is not America's fight alone."