The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said Monday it had encircled the ISIS-controlled town of Tal Abyad, the nearest border town to the militant's de facto capital of Raqqa city, Reuters said.
YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the militia had surrounded the town along the Turkish border, pushing ahead with an offensive with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes to seize strategic territory held by the jihadists, including their main Tal Abyad-Raqqa supply route.
"Tal Abyad is almost besieged now after the control of the Raqqa-Tal Abyad road," he said.
The Kurdish units were sending reinforcements to the area south of Tal Abyad from both its stronghold in Hassakeh province in the northeastern border area and from Kobani, northwest of Tal Abyad.
Fighting near the border has already forced more than 18,000 people to cross into Turkey from Syria, aid workers say. A further 5,000 are believed to have crossed Monday, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.
The YPG has emerged as the main partner on the ground in Syria for the U.S.-led alliance that has been bombing ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Its advance into Raqqa province follows a campaign that drove ISIS from wide areas of neighboring Hasaka province
For the YPG, seizing Tal Abyad would help them link up Kurdish-controlled areas in Hassakeh province and Kobani.
In relevant development, 15 ٍSyrian rebel groups, including Ahrar al-Sham and al-Shamiya Front, have denounced the ethnic and sectarian cleansing against Arab families in Tal Abyad and areas under Kurdish militias control.
The statement of key rebel groups said the forced displacement of Arabs falls under the partition scheme led by PKK and other regional parties. (With Reuters)
YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the militia had surrounded the town along the Turkish border, pushing ahead with an offensive with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes to seize strategic territory held by the jihadists, including their main Tal Abyad-Raqqa supply route.
"Tal Abyad is almost besieged now after the control of the Raqqa-Tal Abyad road," he said.
The Kurdish units were sending reinforcements to the area south of Tal Abyad from both its stronghold in Hassakeh province in the northeastern border area and from Kobani, northwest of Tal Abyad.
Fighting near the border has already forced more than 18,000 people to cross into Turkey from Syria, aid workers say. A further 5,000 are believed to have crossed Monday, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.
The YPG has emerged as the main partner on the ground in Syria for the U.S.-led alliance that has been bombing ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Its advance into Raqqa province follows a campaign that drove ISIS from wide areas of neighboring Hasaka province
For the YPG, seizing Tal Abyad would help them link up Kurdish-controlled areas in Hassakeh province and Kobani.
In relevant development, 15 ٍSyrian rebel groups, including Ahrar al-Sham and al-Shamiya Front, have denounced the ethnic and sectarian cleansing against Arab families in Tal Abyad and areas under Kurdish militias control.
The statement of key rebel groups said the forced displacement of Arabs falls under the partition scheme led by PKK and other regional parties. (With Reuters)
Zaman Al Wasl
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