Yildirim: Turkish-backed rebels oust ISIS from most of Syrian town

Rights group disputes claim about al-Bab • Russia says UN Syria envoy Mistura to visit Moscow on Thursday to discuss peace talks

ANKARA/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Turkey-backed rebels have largely taken control of the Syrian town of al-Bab from Islamic State terrorists, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday, but a war monitoring group said the jihadists still controlled most of the town.

Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish Special Forces, tanks and warplanes, swept into northern Syria in August in an operation, dubbed “Euphrates Shield” by Ankara, to push Islamic State from Turkey’s border and stop the advance of Kurdish fighters.

“Al-Bab has been largely taken under control. Our aim is to prevent the opening of corridors from territories controlled by terrorist organizations to Turkey,” Yildirim said in a speech to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.

However, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the terrorists remained in control of the northern Syrian town.

“Battles continue on the outskirts and entry points... of al-Bab between Islamic State and the Turkish forces and the Euphrates Shield factions, amid advances by the latter in the area,” the Observatory said. “The organization (IS) still controls most of al-Bab.”

The Turkey-backed rebels have been pressing a major offensive on al-Bab, 30 km. south of the Turkish border, since November. The advance risks putting them in direct conflict with Syrian government forces closing in on the city from the south.

President Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish leaders have been saying for weeks that the al-Bab offensive was nearing an end.

Further east along the border, Turkey’s security forces killed a member of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia on Monday when they returned fire from Nusaybin into Syrian territory controlled by the group, the Turkish army said.

Meanwhile the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, will visit Moscow for talks on February 16, RIA News Agency quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying on Tuesday.

“During de Mistura’s Moscow visit, discussion will focus on forming a unified delegation of the Syrian opposition for the talks in Geneva,” the ministry said.

A new round of UN-backed peace talks on the Syrian conflict are due to begin in Geneva next week.