JINHA

NEWS CENTER - Earlier today, YPJ/YPG and allied forces entered the city of Girê Spî (Tel Abyad), a key Daesh-occupied city along the Turkish-Syrian border.

The city of Girê Spî, long under Daesh occupation, holds immense strategic significance for its proximity to the Turkish border, where Daesh is known to bring weapons and gang members from Turkey into Syria. The city also lies between the two Rojava cantons of Cizîrê and Kobanê. YPJ/YPG forces' liberation of the city will mean that the two cantons will have a territorial link for the first time ever.

YPJ/YPG forces approached the city from the east and southeast and Burkan al-Firat forces from the west. Daesh forces had attempted to use civilians as human shields as the fighters approached. The Turkish state cooperated by closing the only exit to the city--the Turkish border north of Girê Spî--for two days. Yesterday, thousands of civilians fleeing the fighting managed to tear down the barbed wire at the Turkish border and enter Turkey.

Fighters crossed the Cellab River last night. After securing control of the bridge to the city and the nearby hill, fighters entered the urban center today, fighting mainly in two neighborhoods: Meşhur Fokani on the eastern side of the city and Meşhur Tehtani in the southeast. This morning, fighters secured territory as close as one kilometer from the Turkish Akçale border gate.

(fk/cm)