Reports: Kurds, Syrian Rebels Claim Border Town from IS
by VOA News June 16, 2015
Kurdish forces in northern Syria claim full control of a border town believed to be an entry point from Turkey for Islamic State (IS) fighters and supplies.
Bolstered by U.S.-led airstrikes overnight, anti-IS militias raised their flags over Tal Abyad on Tuesday, according to reporters observing from the Turkish side.
An offensive to oust the militant group was launched last week, aimed at shutting down a major road used to smuggle equipment and would-be militants from Turkey to the de facto IS capital of Raqqa.
The Pentagon on Tuesday said Tal Abyad remains contested, but anti-IS forces are 'on the verge' of closing the border crossing.
Five of nine U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Syria overnight targeted Tal Abyad, the Pentagon said Tuesday, while warplanes launched 16 strikes around Iraq, heavily bombing IS positions near Iraq's second largest city, the militant stronghold of Mosul.
Concerns about refugees
The recent fighting in northern Syria has sent thousands of civilians across the border to seek safety in Turkey. At least 23,000 people have fled since early June, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said.
'Most of the new arrivals are Syrians escaping fighting by rival military forces in and around the key border town of Tal Abyad, which was controlled by militants and faces Akcakale across the border,' said UNHCR spokesman William Spindler.
Among the refugees are more than 2,000 Iraqis as well, he noted.
Security officials in Turkey said that among the refugees were at least five people arrested by Turkish soldiers, accused of being IS militants.
VOA National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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