After three years in control of portions of the border, ISIS' grasp over the last border villages disappeared in a matter of hours on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Isis had conceded control of its last two villages on the border, retreating to positions around 7-8km to the south.
Rami Abdulrahman, from the UK-based Observatory told Independent UK: "Everything is finished. There is no more Isis at the border."
Three hours before the Turkish-rebel advance was complete, Isis was still reported as holding four villages. Two hours before, the Observatory said "There is only 4-6km still under Isis control at the border, just two villages and a farm, and after that they [FSA] will control the whole area.
"It will be a few hours, and then Isis will be cut off from the rest of the world."
Turkey's Anadolu news agency also ran a report saying that the advance had “removed terror organization Daesh's [Isis] physical contact with the Turkish border in northern Syria."
Asked how the Turkish-led offensive had been able to secure a stretch of 55km in just two days, Mr Abdulrahman said: "Isis have stopped fighting there, they are moving out.
"We said after they lost Manbij, Isis would start to lose everywhere. Sure enough, when the Turkish forces went into Jarablus that was not really fighting, there was no one killed from either side."
"Isis is losing the border because they had operations againt the Free Syrian Army, and also operations against the Kurdish, and against the regime,"
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a speech on Sunday;
“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.
"We are there to protect our borders, ensure the safety of our citizens' lives and property, and to protect the territorial integrity of Syria."
Source: Independent UK
No comments:
Post a Comment