Kurdish fighters took full control of a key town on the Syria-Turkey border Tuesday, dealing a major blow to ISIS by cutting off a vital supply line to its self-proclaimed Syrian capital, Raqqa.
A senior Kurdish commander, Haqi Kobane, told The Associated Press that Kurdish YPG fighters and allies from the Free Syrian Army had begun clearing booby traps and mines in Tal Abyad, which the extremists had held for more than a year.
"Daesh has been broken at the hands of the YPG," he said by telephone from northern Syria, using an alternate name for ISIS. "It is a victory for all Syrians."
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The takeover of Tal Abyad marks the biggest setback yet to ISIS, depriving it of a direct route to Raqqa for foreign militants and supplies. It also links the Kurds' two fronts, putting even more pressure on Raqqa.
The defeat is a stunning reversal of fortunes for ISIS, which only last month captured the provincial capital of Ramadi in Iraq's Anbar province and the historic town of Palmyra in central Syria.
