Turkey and its allies opened a new line of attack in northern Syria on Saturday, as Turkish tanks rolled across the border and Syrian fighters swept in from the west to take villages held by Islamic State and check the advance of the US-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG.
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The rebels, mainly Syrian Arabs and Turkmen fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, took charge of the frontier between Azaz and Jarablus after seizing 20 villages from the Sunni hardline group, the Turkish military said in a statement.
On Saturday, Turkish tanks with Syrian rebels seized Al-Rai, a town that rebels lost to Islamic State in May, and spread east and west to several surrounding villages. Since the Turkish operation began on August 24, the army says it has hit 300 targets with 1,306 rounds.
The Euphrates Shield operation started on August 24 in the northern Syrian city of Jarablus when Turkish forces crossed into Syria under the pretext of targeting Islamic State positions along the border.
Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group and has warned the U.S. against attempts to create an “artificial state” in northern Syria.
The loss of its territory along the Turkish border follows a series of recent defeats for Daesh, including its expulsion from the central Iraqi city of Fallujah and its defeat in the former stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria.
Some 10 days ago, Turkey mounted its first full-scale incursion into Syrian territory since the conflict began in 2011, aimed at IS and at USA -backed Kurdish forces in the area, which have also been battling the jihadists.
“Turkey’s fight against all terror organisations including Daesh and YPG will continue with determination”, he said, referring to the Islamic State and the main Syrian Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units.
Speaking to reporters at the G20 meeting in China, Mr Obama said: “We have grave differences with the Russians in terms of both the parties we support but also the process that is required to bring about peace in Syria”. Its attack aimed to clear the border of IS extremists and Syrian Kurds (YPG).
“However, there has been no fight between the Turkish forces and ISIS in al-Rae, which shows that ISIS has actually handed the town over to Turkey”, he added.
U.S. forces hit Islamic State targets overnight near Turkey’s border with Syria. Since then, government forces and their allies have been trying to recapture the area.
The system – created to reduce potential collateral damage as it impacts at a high angle and has a relatively small blast radius – was sacked out of southern Turkey, a USA official said. But the idea has yet to gain traction from the United States and Russian Federation, both engaged in Syria, because of the military demands of policing such a zone. Aleppo has been a major battlefield in Syria since 2011, with fierce fighting between rebel groups and regime forces.
The Observatory said the twin blasts killed 35 people, including an army colonel, and wounded dozens more.
The Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army units have also been fighting US -backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Obama said after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday that the two leaders had discussed a peaceful transition of power in Syria.
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The deal would focus on delivery of humanitarian supplies to Aleppo, where recent advances by both sides have cut supplies, power and water to almost 2 million people in government- and rebel-held areas.
