US-Backed Turkish Rebels Reclaim Border Territory

ISIS now has control of just over 15 miles of the border between Turkey and Syria as Turkish forces and US-backed rebels have pushed the group back, limiting its only channel for outside fighters. Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said during a Thursday briefing that the recent push by Turkish fighters, backed by US airstrikes, freed the city of Jarablus, and reclaimed much of the border that ISIS once held. US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the group that liberated the Syrian city of Manbij, is pushing east and holding that area near the border. The joint movements mean ISIS is less free to import external fighters and export terrorists through a lawless border area. The Turkish forces and SDF fighters, a group that includes Kurdish fighters at odds with Turkey, are largely holding to agreements to not fight each other and solely focus on ISIS, Davis said. There have been no skirmishes between Turkey and Kurdish YPG fighters within the past three days, Davis said. (See also: Carter Calls on Turkey, Kurds to End Hostilities.)