Syrian rebels are preparing to launch an attack to seize a town from ISIS on the border with Turkey, a senior rebel said on Sunday, in a move that would frustrate Kurdish hopes to expand in the area.
The rebels, Turkish-backed groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), are expected to assault Jarablus from inside Turkey in the next few days, said the rebel official, who is familiar with the plans but declined to be identified.
“The factions are gathering in an area near the border (inside Turkey),” the rebel said.
Another rebel source said they were gathering at a Turkish military camp near the town of Qarqamish just opposite Jarablus.
“Every day there are groups of fighters entering from inside Syria across a secret crossing to a Turkish base where they are gathering in preparation of the assault on Jarablus,” the source said.
Fighters mostly drawn from Failaq al Sham, Sultan Murad, Ahrar al-Sham and Jabha al Shamiya groups were coming from Syria’s northwestern rebel-held Idlib province and also from the town of Azaz.
Another source, in Ahrar al-Sham, expected the assault on Jarablus to begin in the next few days.
Jarablus, on the western bank of the Euphrates river, is the last significant town held by the militant Islamist group on Syria’s border with Turkey.
It is 34 miles (54 km) east of al-Rai, a border town FSA rebel groups recently took from ISIS.

Syrian rebels prepare to attack ISIS town from Turkey
SDF fighter rushes to help civilians who were evacuated by the SDF from an ISIS-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 12, 2016. (Reuters)
Reuters, Beirut/Amman
Sunday 21 August 2016
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:47 - GMT 06:47
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