Battle lines shift in northern Syria
Eyes are focused on the Syrian-Turkish border after the FSA factions and Syrian Democratic Forces launched their offensives, which points at an imminent final and decisive offensive against IS.
KOBANI, Syria — On April 1, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) started making military movements in northern Syria, at the Tishrin Dam west of the Euphrates, to level ground offensives against Manbij and Jarablous. This military maneuver points to an imminent large-scale offensive to expel the Islamic State (IS) from the remaining areas it controls in the eastern Aleppo countryside.
Meanwhile, factions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) operating under the Hor Kalas operations room expanded their control in northern Syria by taking over a 10-kilometer (6-mile) borderline with Turkey. On April 8, the factions drove IS out of al-Rai and adjacent towns that have been under the group's control for 2½ years.
