Turkish tanks on Saturday crossed into Syria to the west of Jarablus, a frontier town recently seized from the Islamic State militant group, in a “new phase” of an operation aimed at sealing off the last stretch of border controlled by the extremists.
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The Turkish border with Syria was cleared Sunday of Daesh terrorists after the Turkish Army-supported Free Syrian Army took control of all regions from Azaz to Jarabulus, said security sources.
“From Azaz to Jarablus, 57 miles of our border has been completely secured”. USA -backed Kurdish fighters in Syria are “PKK terrorists disguised as a different group”, he said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
It had occupied the border area even before it declared its self-styled caliphate in June 2014, and it used the Turkish border to bring in fighters from around the world.
While Turkey is a member of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition, the country has been accused of not taking the ISIL threat seriously and fighters crossed into ISIL territory easily from Turkish border towns. “Sure enough, when the Turkish forces went into Jarablus that was not really fighting, there was no one killed from either side”, said Abdulrahman.
A wall along the border between Turkey and Syria is pictured near the southeastern town of Deliosman in Kilis province, Turkey, August 29, 2016.
On Aug. 24, Turkey, along with an estimated 1,000-strong Syrian rebel coalition, then launched its incursion into Jarablus.
Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
Yildirim on September 4 defended his country’s intervention in Syria, pointing to their long shared border.
“We are there with Euphrates Shield, we are there to protect our border, to provide for our citizens safety of life and property, and to ensure Syria’s integrity”.
Turkey’s government has signaled that its offensive will not only target ISIS but also the Syrian Kurdish YPG, who are viewed as an equal threat. However, that could sharpen tensions with the United States over Syria policy. The city has been contested since summer 2012.
The SANA news agency reported blasts around the coastal city of Tartus, the central city of Homs, the suburbs of the capital Damascus, and the northeastern city of Hasakeh.
A deal would depend on Moscow using its influence with Syrian President Bashar Assad to persuade him to ground planes and stop the assault on opposition forces.
It would oblige Russian Federation to prevent warplanes from bombing areas held by mainstream opposition, require the withdrawal of Damascus’s forces from a supply route north of Aleppo, and focus on delivery of humanitarian aid unhindered by warring sides to the city’s population, said the letter, dated September 3.
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The Observatory confirmed these gains.
