Free Syrian Army rebels backed by Turkey secured the 55 miles of border where the Sunni militants still had strongholds.
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The private Dogan news agency reported at least 20 tanks and five armored personnel carriers crossed at the Turkish border town of Elbeyli, across from the Syrian rebel-held town of al-Rai.
In an exclusive interview with Trend, Armagan Kuloglu, a retired lieutenant-general of the Turkish armed forces and expert on national security, said Turkey can launch new operations against PYD in the city of Afrin in northwestern Syria as a lever of political pressure.
Turkish troops and Syrian rebels on Sunday pushed the Islamic State out of the remaining stretch of territory the group had controlled along the Turkish-Syrian border, severing the militants’ last access to the outside world.
This advance will cut of IS supply lines that it used to import weapons and fighters.
Free Syrian Army soldiers celebrate after expelling ISIS from the northern Syrian border area near the town of Jarablus. One of the wounded soldiers died despite efforts to save him, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
The ceasefire would be overseen through Russian-U.S. intelligence sharing and military cooperation, which would focus on fighting Islamic State and other militant groups such as al Qaeda.
Turkey has launched two incursions into Syria since August 24 in an operation created to drive the Islamic State away from the border and prevent the advance of USA -backed Kurdish forces, which are also battling the extremist group.
State TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops are now in full control of the military academies south of Aleppo and are “chasing the remnant of terrorists”.
Other attacks hit government-held Homs city, an army checkpoint on a road outside Damascus, and a Kurdish security forces checkpoint in Hasakeh city.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a speech on Sunday in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir: “We will never allow the formation of an artificial state in the north of Syria”, referring to the Kurdish desire for autonomy in the region.
Meanwhile, YPG forces say they have already withdrawn to the east of the Euphrates River in line with demands by Ankara and Washington.
The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, another Syrian monitoring group, said an IS suicide attacker riding a motorcycle struck in the northern village of Khalfatli, killing and wounding a number of people, including rebels. “The whole areas are under complete siege”.
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.
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“So it’s a risky possibility that we’re witnessing ISIS gear up for a campaign to expand westward into either or both regime and opposition territory as it loses to the anti-ISIS coalition”, she said, using an acronym for the militant group.
