|
|
#1
02-09-2017, 03:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Turkish-led forces ?advance? into Syria
ANKARA/BEIRUT: Syrian rebels backed by the Turkish military have captured the outskirts of the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in **rthern Syria, the Turkish government and rebel sources said on Wednesday.
The advance threatens an important IS stronghold, whose fall would deepen Turkish influence in an area of **rthern Syria where it has created a de facto buffer zone. Syrian government forces have also advanced on al-Bab from the south, bringing them into close proximity with their Turkish and rebel enemies in one of the most complex battlefields of the six-year-old conflict. But Turkey said international coordination was under way to prevent clashes with the Syrian forces. "The al-Bab operation must be completed immediately in the period ahead. In recent days our special forces and the Free Syrian Army (rebels) have made serious progress," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference. In a sign of Turkish momentum and confidence, the government said its next target would be the Syrian city of Raqqa, de facto capital of the embattled Islamic State group which has also been partly dislodged from its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul. Al-Bab has been a major target of a Turkish offensive launched in **rthern Syria last August to drive IS away from the border and prevent further gains by US-backed Kurdish militia that are also fighting the jihadist group. The city is just 30-km from the Turkish border. A Free Syrian Army rebel commander speaking to Reuters from southeastern outskirts of al-Bab said Syrian government warplanes and helicopters were visible to the west of his position, saying there was **w an "indirect frontline" between the sides. But an official in a military alliance backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the city was being left to Turkish control, in what appeared to be part of a de facto deal with Russia, Assad’s most powerful ally. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said clashes with the Syrian forces had been avoided. أكثر... 
|
|
|
العرض الشجري