The offensive will deprive IS militants of a pivotal logistical route for supplies and foreign recruits.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its allies in Syria are understood to have made plans to seize a stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border currently held by Islamic State militants.
The offensive will deprive IS militants of a pivotal logistical route for supplies and foreign recruits, but may also have the potential to offend Turkish authorities.
An unnamed YPG source confirmed to Reuters that although there was no fixed date, it may be close to 29 January.
The attack includes crossing the Euphrates to attack the IS-held towns of Jarablus and Manbij, in addition to Azaz, which is occupied by other insurgent groups.
Turkey, however, has said it will not allow the Syrian Kurds to move west of the Euphrates.
Ankara has always feared that further expansion by the YPG, which along with the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD), the parent party of the YPG, as a terrorist group due to its affiliation with Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
basnews.com
