BAGHDAD – Forty-nine Turks were freed on Saturday more than three months after the self-proclaimed Islamic State group kidnapped them in Iraq, as the US sought to strengthen a coalition to defeat the militants.

 

It was not immediately clear what circumstances led to their release, which came as heavy clashes raged in neighboring Syria between Kurds and the militants after they seized dozens of villages in a lightning offensive.

 

NATO member Turkey has so far been reluctant to take part in combat operations against the IS militants, or allow the US-led coalition to use its airbases for strikes against them, citing its concern over for the safety of the hostages.

 

The news came as France mounted air strikes in Iraq, becoming the first nation to join the American campaign, more than a decade after Paris famously refused to back the US-led invasion of the country.

 

France’s participation boosted American-led efforts to unite the world against the growing threat posed by the militants, as US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to build support at the UN for a coalition against the militants.

 

The Turkish nationals, including diplomats, children and special forces, were kidnapped from the country’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 told reporters Saturday during an official visit to Azerbaijan, adding that 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, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.

“In the past 48 hours, they have taken 60 villages, 40 on Friday alone,” said the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman.

 

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.

 

Turkey has reopened its frontier with Syria to fleeing Kurds, saying a worst-case scenario could drive as many as 100,000 more refugees into the country.

 

In Iraq, the US air war against IS was boosted Friday by French warplanes, which dropped two bombs on a “logistics depot of the terrorist organization,” President Francois Hollande said.

 

French Defense Ministry sources said two Rafale jets dropped laser-guided GBU-12 bombs in the Mosul area. They said “a lot of ammunition,” vehicles and fuel reserves were destroyed.

 

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.

At the United Nations Security Council in New York, Kerry brought together 35 countries — including Washington’s traditional foe Iran — to bolster support for the campaign against the militants.

 

Kerry said the turnout showed “the clear need for all of us to come together, to welcome and to support the new inclusive government in Iraq and of course to put an end to (IS’s) unfettered barbarity.”

 

Tehran is backing both Iraq and Syria in their battle against the so-called Islamic State group, and Kerry said that in combating the militant threat “there is a role for nearly every country to play, including Iran.”

 

Footage of the beheading of two US journalists and a British aid worker in Syria have since sparked international outrage and spurred calls for tougher action against IS.

 

But Obama has vowed not to put “boots on the ground,” fearful of dragging US forces back into the Iraqi quagmire only three years after pulling them out.

 

The US president has instead pledged to support Kurdish and Iraqi federal forces by offering air support and arms, as well as targeting intelligence and training.

 

Congress this week backed his plan to arm Syrian rebels to take on IS in conjunction with air strikes, which Obama pledged to carry out inside Syria but has yet to launch.

 

Iraq was rocked by a series of bombings as security forces and militia, backed by expanding air strikes, battled to regain ground from IS and allied groups.

 

Three bombings in and near the capital on Friday killed at least 14 people, while a fourth in the northern city of Kirkuk killed eight more, officials said.

 

The IS, meanwhile, hitting back in the propaganda war, posted its latest video of a Western hostage, British journalist John Cantlie, in an orange jumpsuit. – AFP