Turkish artillery has hit jihadist positions in the northern Iraqi city of Bashiqa near Mosul after Kurdish Peshmerga forces asked for support, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in televised comments Sunday.

"They (Peshmerga) asked for help from our soldiers at Bashiqa base. We are providing support with artillery, tanks and howitzers," Yildirim told reporters in western Turkey. At the base, Ankara says some 700 Turkish soldiers are training Iraqi fighters to help remove the Islamic State group from the country.