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Turkish army tanks are stationed near the border with Syria, in Karkamis, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.

Turkish army tanks are stationed near the border with Syria, in Karkamis, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. (DHA via AP)

Turkish army tanks are stationed near the border with Syria, in Karkamis, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.

Turkish army tanks are stationed near the border with Syria, in Karkamis, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. (DHA via AP)

(The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON — U.S. warplanes are conducting airstrikes to assist Turkish forces as they attack Islamic State group positions at a critical border town in northern Syria, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

United States A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes and F-16 fighter jets “are currently conducting airstrikes” to assist Turkish forces striking against Jarabulus, a city on the Euphrates River at the border between Turkey and Syria.

The U.S. launched eight airstrikes in Jarabulus on Wednesday, a defense official said on the condition that he not be named.

The U.S. airstrikes are “in support of Turkish and vetted Syrian opposition operations against [the Islamic State group] in Jarabulus,” he said.

No U.S. forces are on the ground there, he said.

A second defense official said that the U.S. had been aware of the Turks' plan for a military operation in Jarabulus and that U.S. surveillance drones had been used to provide intelligence on the area. The town has several hundred Islamic State group fighters in it, many of whom fled there after U.S.-backed forces retook Manbij, Syria, several weeks ago.

Jarabulus "is a critical location because of the foreign fighter flow" that allowed the Islamic State group to reconstitute its fighting forces, the second official said.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency announced that Turkish forces on Wednesday launched Operation Euphrates Shield against Islamic State group fighters who have assembled in Jarabulus.

Turkey’s stated goal for the operation was not only to eliminate Islamic State fighters from Jarabulus, but also to attack members of the People’s Protection Units, the Kurdish forces known as the YPG.

The purpose of the operation “is to clear all the terrorist elements of our borders, including [the Islamic State group] and YPG. Turkey's commitment is complete,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted Wednesday according to Anadolu news agency.

YPG forces have regularly worked with U.S. forces on the ground in Syria to fight the Islamic State.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Monday when asked whether the U.S. would defend YPG fighters in Jarabulus that the U.S. policy in Syria is "to defend our forces and our partnered operations on the ground." Defense officials on Wednesday would not say whether the YPG units in Jarabulus were considered "partnered operations," saying that information would reveal U.S. rules of engagement.

copp.tara@stripes.com Twitter: @TaraCopp

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