Syrian rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) group have reportedly forced Islamic State (ISIS) militants from the town of al-Rai in the northern Aleppo region near the Turkish border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that FSA-affiliated rebels seized most of al-Rai from the group. Turkey and the United States have supported non-Kurdish groups in that northwestern part of Syria against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra. Turkey even launched artillery bombardments against the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) last February to prevent an offensive they had launched against Azaz. Turkey doesn't want the YPG, which they see as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) they are currently engaged in a war against, to enter that part of Syria since they fear they will use the opportunity to link-up Kobani Canton with Afrin Canton and gain control over Syria's frontier with Turkey. Instead they have backed groups like the FSA and the Failaq al Sham and Sultan Murad groups against ISIS in that area.
ECONOMY20-06-2026Practical steps for launch of ASYCUDA system in Kurdistan to begin in August: Official
