Turkish-led forces advance into outskirts of Syrian city

ANKARA/BEIRUT — Syrian rebels backed by the Turkish military have captured the outskirts of the Daesh-held city of Al Bab in northern Syria, the Turkish government and rebel sources said on Wednesday.

The advance threatens an important Daesh stronghold, whose fall would deepen Turkish influence in an area of northern 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.

"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 Daesh group which has also been partly dislodged from its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul.

The US military, which is leading an international coalition against Daesh, said it expected Raqqa to be “completely isolated” in the next few weeks. 

Al Bab has been a major target of a Turkish offensive launched in northern Syria last August to drive Daesh away from the border and prevent further gains by US-backed Kurdish militia that are also fighting the terrorist 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.

But an official in a military alliance backing Syrian President Bashar 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.

Assad has been backed in the war by the Russian air force and an array of Iranian-backed Shiite militias. The Syrian army advance towards Al Bab is aimed at preventing deeper Turkish advances and safeguarding the city of Aleppo, 50km to the southwest. The Turkish military said in a statement that 58 Daesh militants had been killed in air strikes, artillery fire and clashes. Two Turkish soldiers had been killed and 15 slightly wounded. The advancing forces had captured strategic hilltops around Al Bab, the army said. 

A Syrian rebel fighter reached by Reuters said he was speaking from inside Al Bab where Daesh lines were “collapsing”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation  cautioned that it was not yet clear if Daesh had collapsed entirely in the city. It said at least six people had been killed and 12 more wounded in the latest shelling there.