ANKARA: Turkey on Saturday sent more tanks into the northern Syrian village of al-Rai to fight extremists of the militant Islamic State group, opening a new front after its intervention last month against the group, state media reported.

The tanks crossed into the village from Elbeyli in the Turkish province of Kilis to provide military support to Syrian opposition fighters after ridding northern villages of extremists in its “Euphrates Shield” operation launched on August 24, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

At least 20 tanks, five armoured personnel carriers, trucks and other armoured vehicles crossed the border after noon, Dogan news agency said.

Turkish Firtina howitzers fired on IS targets as the fresh armoured contingent advanced, Dogan said. In the last few months, al-Rai has repeatedly changed hands between rebels and IS.

This is Ankara’s most ambitious operation during the five-and-a-half-year Syria conflict, backed by the tanks as well as war planes and special forces providing support to rebels.

The goal is to remove IS from its border and to halt the westward advance of the Kurdish People’s Protection Militia (YPG).

Ahmed Othman, a commander in pro-Turkey rebel group Sultan Murad, said that his group was now “working on two fronts in al-Rai, south and east, in order to advance towards the villages recently liberated from IS west of Jarabulus”.

Othman said it was the first phase of their plans. “We want to clear the border area between al-Rai and Jarablus from IS, before advancing south towards al-Bab (the last IS bastion in Aleppo) and Manbij (controlled by pro Kurdish forces).” After the Kurds’ success in Manbij, they said they wanted to advance and link their other two ‘cantons’ in northern Syria, Kobane and Afrin.

Published in Dawn September 4th, 2016