Al-Qaeda's Syria wing, the Nusra Front, has evacuated its bases in two border villages with Turkey, activists said on Wednesday, a step seen by observes intrudes to the planned Turkish buffer zone.
Nusra Front did not assured the withdrawal news from Hewar killis and Ghazel villages to favor of Ahrar al-Sham and al-Shamiya Front in an official statement, but activists say its an unspoken commitment to the Turkish scenario that says Nusra fighters should not be settled in the buffer zone.
On Wednesday, U.S. aircraft and drones are arriving in Turkish air bases and a comprehensive battle against Islamic State militants will be launched soon, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said according to Reuters.
"As part of our agreement with the U.S. we have made progress regarding the opening up of our bases, particularly Incirlik," Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT, referring to a major air base near the southern city of Adana.
"We're seeing that manned and unmanned American planes are arriving and soon we will launch a comprehensive battle against Islamic State all together," he said during a trip to Malaysia.
Turkey and the United States have been working on plans to provide air cover for a group of U.S.-trained Syrian rebels and jointly sweep Islamic State fighters from a strip of northern Syria stretching about 80 km (50 miles) along the Turkish border.
Washington said on Tuesday it had indications some of the rebels trained by its military were captured by fighters from al Qaeda's Syria wing, Nusra Front, underscoring the vulnerability of a group thought to number less than 60 who only deployed to the battlefield in recent weeks.
Zaman Al Wasl
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