For Islamic State, the 500-mile border between Syria and Turkey has been the main gateway for arms and foreign fighters entering its self-proclaimed caliphate. But that passageway has now been cut off by Syrian rebels and Turkish-backed Islamic factions that snatched a 54-mile strip of territory Sunday, Turkish officials and rebels said. “The Turkish border with Syria was cleared Sunday of Daesh,” the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported, using Islamic State’s Arabic acronym. Rebel groups have common enemies in Islamic State and the government of President Bashar Assad — which are also fighting each other — but different outside backers and long-term goals. But among the various factions fighting in Syria, the Kurdish militia is the most important U.S. ally against Islamic State.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 04, 2016 17:20 UTC