Posted on 02/11/2017 11:19:06 AM PST by elhombrelibre
Backed by Turkish troops, Syrian rebels pushed into the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab, just north of Aleppo, a monitor said.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the opposition forces took control of a hospital as they made their way into the city.
"Turkish forces and allied rebels in the Euphrates Shield campaign entered the western edge of the town and took control of a number of areas," the monitor said.
One Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded during the fighting Saturday, the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency quoted military sources as saying. More than 60 Turkish soldiers have been killed during the operation, including three who were killed Thursday when Russian airstrikes accidentally targeted their position.
The town has been under siege since Monday. Anti-IS forces took control of the northern part of town by Thursday morning and the two sides have been engaged in heavy clashes since then.
On Friday, government forces moved to within about 1.5 kilometers of the southern outskirts of the town as the Turkish troops came in from the north.
IS took control of al-Bab in 2014 when it seized large areas of Syria and Iraq to establish its so-called caliphate. Turkey began operations to remove IS from Syria in August.
"The Observatory said Saturday that SDF fighters had now advanced to around eight kilometres from the eastern outskirts of Raqa, though their forces are further from the north of the city."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkish-troops-syria-rebels-enter-held-town-monitor-130234808.html
I would be as suspicious of Turkish-backed Syrian rebel troops as I would be of ISIS itself.
I do not like Bashir al-Assad at all, but given the alternatives, he is probably the least bad of the lot, and he is already installed as head of government. Turkey is moving obliquely in this engagement, as they would like very much to restore the Ottoman Empire under THEIR auspices, rather than allowing ISIS to form any kind of viable Caliphate. The Russians and the Iranians are much more straightforward in this territorial dispute over internal control of Syria, but for differing reasons. The Iranians want any excuse to further kick the butts of Sunni Arabs, a fight that has been going on for centuries with no possible resolution in sight, while the Russians want a solid base in the Mediterranean, for both air and naval control that flanks their old rival Turkey. Meanwhile, Syrian people continue to be fed into the meat grinder.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1075109/isil-fighters-trapped-in-western-mosul-pentagon-spokesman-says
Erdogan didn’t get earnest about getting into the fight until the Kurds started really gaining traction. I believe he fears their success as much as anything.
So some western backed jihadis are taking over formerly western backed isis? Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.
This the same Turkey that was buying oil from isis until it got exposed?
I know you believe that they’re the same. Yet they’ve been fighting each other, so they must see themselves differently.
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