AKCAKALE, Turkey – Hundreds of Syrian refugees poured into a Turkish-Syrian border crossing Saturday, fleeing intense fighting as Syrian Kurds closed in on an Islamic State-held town – the only passageway linking Turkey with the extremist group’s stronghold of Raqqa.
Some 13,000 refugees have already crossed into Turkey in the last 10 days, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Hundreds more could be seen Saturday on the Syrian side of the Akcakale border crossing, waiting to cross into Turkey.
A statement by the main Syrian Kurdish fighting force, known as the YPG, said its fighters have encircled the Islamic State-held town of Suluk, a few kilometers (miles) southwest of the strategically important town of Tal Abyad.
It said IS militants have “lost control” over Suluk and Kurdish forces were advancing toward Tal Abyad. It also said the road linking Tal Abyad with Raqqa was under YPG control. The report could not be immediately confirmed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Kurds were less than 10 kilometers (six miles) away from Tal Abyad.
The loss of Tal Abyad would be a major blow to the IS group.