Turkish troops and rebel forces drove ISIL from its last stretch of territory along Syria’s border with Turkey on Sunday, cutting off the extremist group from the outside world.
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The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed Yildirim’s claims, noting that militants backed by “Turkish tanks and warplanes” had taken several villages “after Daesh withdrew from them, ending Daesh’s presence. on the border”.
The advance comes after Turkey launched an operation on August 24 created to drive IS away from the border and also prevent the advance of Kurdish fighters.
Turkish armored units, artillery and air force took part in the battles, along with some 1,000 Syrian rebel fighters and air support from the US -led coalition against Islamic State.
Much of the focus since has been on the YPG militia, as Ankara fears its growing control of northern Syria.
Al-Rai is about 55 kilometers west of Jarablus, another border town and key ISIS supply point that Syrian rebels and Turkish forces recently recaptured from the terror group.
Separately, state-run Anadolu Agency said Turkish jets hit four Islamic State positions late on Saturday evening in Syria’s northwestern Aleppo province as part of the operation, citing security sources.
“This is an important step forward in the fight against ISIL”, a USA official said, using Washington’s acronym for Islamic State.
Moscow has backed Assad in the war and Russian warplanes have targeted the opposition for almost a year, while Washington has supported some rebel groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army to topple him.
The minister also said Russian Federation and Turkey are still holding the negotiations on the Turkish Stream pipeline construction.
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.
Turkey and allied Syrian rebels have also fought USA -backed Kurdish forces known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, around Jarablus.
Those Syrian rebels, backed by some 30 Turkish tanks and coalition air support, quickly liberated that border town from Islamic State.
At least 20 tanks, five armored personnel carriers, trucks and other armored vehicles crossed the border, marking Turkey’s second incursion since it launched the so-called “Euphrates Shield” operation along with Free Syrian Army units on August 24.
The war has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced 11 million, causing a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe, and contributed to a rise in militant Islamist groups.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would not allow a “terror corridor” on its southern border. Since then, government forces and their allies have been trying to recapture the area. “Repelling these terrorists from the border with Turkey and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has been a longtime goal of the counter- ISIL coalition”.
The loss of Aleppo would be a devastating symbolic blow to the rebels, sending a signal that President Bashal al-Assad has reclaimed his hold over the country and that the rebel movement is on its last legs.
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“We’re not there yet”, Obama told reporters after a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
