MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-TURKEY TROOPS Syrian Kurds hoist YPG flag in Tel Abyad after capturing town from IS

Record ID: 151433

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-TURKEY TROOPS Syrian Kurds hoist YPG flag in Tel Abyad after capturing town from IS
  • Date: 16th June 2015
  • Summary: TEL ABYAD, SYRIA (AS SEEN FROM AKCAKALE, TURKEY) (JUNE 16, 2015) (REUTERS) ISLAMIC STATE FLAG FLYING ISLAMIC STATE FLAG BEING PULLED DOWN FLAGPOLE VILLAGE HOUSES YPG [PEOPLE'S PROTECTION UNITS] FLAG BEING HOISTED VARIOUS OF YPG FLAG FLYING BUILDINGS YPG FLAG FLYING VARIOUS OF TOWN AKCAKALE, TURKEY (JUNE 16, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MILITARY CONVOY DRIVING ALONG BORDER SO
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAXF29TR20SDIMGGT9AJ496753
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Syrian Kurds on Tuesday (June 16) hoisted their flag in Syria's Tel Abyad after capturing the strategic border town from Islamic State.
    Syrian Kurdish-led forces said they had captured a town at the Turkish border from Islamic State on Monday (June 15), driving it away from the frontier in an advance backed by U.S.-led air strikes.
    U.S. and coalition forces are also conducting air strikes targeting Islamic State in Iraqi cities.
    Turkish Commander General Ibrahim Yildirim was also seen at the border, as more than 23,000 refugees fleeing fighting in northern Syria have crossed into Turkey, the United Nations refugee agency said, quoting Turkish authorities.
    Turkey now hosts more than 1.7 million registered Syrian refugees, with the latest arrivals.
    The figure from Tel Abyad includes more than 2,183 Iraqis from the cities of Mosul, Ramadi and Fallujah.
    The capture of Tel Abyad by the Kurdish YPG and smaller Syrian rebel groups means the Syrian Kurds effectively control some 400 km (250 miles) of the Syrian-Turkish border that has been a conduit for foreign fighters joining Islamic State.
    Tel Abyad, on the border with Turkey, has been a main conduit for Islamic State to smuggle weapons and oil.
    Turkey views the YPG as part of the PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against Ankara and is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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