IS supporters escape as fighting escalates

● Attacks into Syria isolate US troops from former Kurd allies

Turkish forces have approached a key Kurdish-held town in northern Syria, setting off clashes that allowed hundreds of so-called Islamic State supporters to escape from a camp for displaced people.

The move also prompted US soldiers to withdraw from a nearby base.

A US military official said the situation across north-eastern Syria was “deteriorating rapidly” and that American forces had been cut off from the Syrian Kurdish fighters they had previously partnered.

The official said US troops on the ground are at risk of being “isolated” and cannot travel overland without a “high risk” of armed confrontation with Turkey-backed forces.

The camp in Ein Eissa, around 20 miles south of the border, is home to some 12,000 people, including 1,000 wives and widows of Islamic State fighters and their children.

The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria said in a statement that 950 IS supporters escaped after attacking guards and storming the gates.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish warplanes struck villages near the camp yesterday.

It said camp residents fled as clashes broke out between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and Kurdish forces, without providing an exact number.

Jelal Ayaf, a senior official at the camp, told local media that 859 people successfully escaped from the section housing foreigners.

He said a few were recaptured but that supporters inside the other section of the camp also escaped and were carrying out attacks. He described the situation as “very volatile”.

The US official said a “small group” of American troops withdrew from a base in the town because of the threat posed by Syrian fighters allied with Turkey, but that US forces were still present in larger bases nearby.

The UN says more than 130,000 Syrians have fled since the operation began five days ago.

Turkey’s defence ministry tweeted that its forces had taken control of the main road running between Hassakeh, a major town and logistics hub, and Ein Eissa, the administrative centre of the Kurdish-held areas.

Heavy fighting was also under way in the town of Suluk, north-east of Ein Eissa.

Turkey’s official news agency said Syrian fighters allied with Ankara had captured the town, while Kurdish officials said they were still battling to hold on to it.

The Anadolu news agency said Turkey-backed forces had cleared the town centre of Suluk, which is located at a strategic crossroads about six miles south of the border.

Smoke could also be seen rising from several points in the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border.

“He described the situation as very volatile”

UNDER ATTACK: Smoke billows from buildings in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, which was targeted for bombardment by Turkish forces