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Trapped by Isil: jihadists order fleeing Syrians back into city besieged by Kurds
Syrians mass at border with Turkey in attempt to flee fighting over city of Tal Abyad, an Isil outpost surrounded by Kurdish YPG fighters
Trapped by Isil: jihadists order fleeing Syrians back into city beseiged by Kurds
An Islamic State member, right, gestures to the Turkish side as they order people to go back to Tal Abyad Photo: AFP
Andrew Marszal
By Andrew Marszal, and AFP
10:58AM BST 14 Jun 2015
Follow
Kurdish forces closed in on a strategic Islamic State-held border town in northern Syria on Sunday, prompting an exodus of fearful civilians attempting to flee to Turkey.
But photographs taken from the Turkish side of the border show Isil jihadists at the frontier ordering Syrian refugees to return to the beseiged city of Tal Abyad.
A masked gunman, believed to be an Islamic State militant, runs as he gives orders to Syrian refugees (AP)
Several jihadists pushed the refugees back towards the city on Saturday, but later the refugees massed again near the border fence in hope to flee the intense fighting between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Backed by allied rebels and air strikes by a US-led coalition, Kurdish militia have pressed their offensive on Tal Abyad, which is used by Isil as a gateway from neighbouring Turkey.
• What is Islamic State trying to achieve?
• 'Isil does not just crave attention, it needs it to survive'
The advance on Tal Abyad could allow Kurds to cut off a vital route that the extremists use to bring in new foreign fighters. US-led airstrikes have aided their push.
Trapped by Isil: jihadists order fleeing Syrians back into city besieged by Kurds
Syrians mass at border with Turkey in attempt to flee fighting over city of Tal Abyad, an Isil outpost surrounded by Kurdish YPG fighters
Trapped by Isil: jihadists order fleeing Syrians back into city beseiged by Kurds
An Islamic State member, right, gestures to the Turkish side as they order people to go back to Tal Abyad Photo: AFP
Andrew Marszal
By Andrew Marszal, and AFP
10:58AM BST 14 Jun 2015
Follow
Kurdish forces closed in on a strategic Islamic State-held border town in northern Syria on Sunday, prompting an exodus of fearful civilians attempting to flee to Turkey.
But photographs taken from the Turkish side of the border show Isil jihadists at the frontier ordering Syrian refugees to return to the beseiged city of Tal Abyad.
A masked gunman, believed to be an Islamic State militant, runs as he gives orders to Syrian refugees (AP)
Several jihadists pushed the refugees back towards the city on Saturday, but later the refugees massed again near the border fence in hope to flee the intense fighting between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Backed by allied rebels and air strikes by a US-led coalition, Kurdish militia have pressed their offensive on Tal Abyad, which is used by Isil as a gateway from neighbouring Turkey.
• What is Islamic State trying to achieve?
• 'Isil does not just crave attention, it needs it to survive'
The advance on Tal Abyad could allow Kurds to cut off a vital route that the extremists use to bring in new foreign fighters. US-led airstrikes have aided their push.
