ISIS has ramped up its defensive measures in the border town of Jarablus amid reports Turkey was preparing a ground incursion into ISIS-controlled territory in northern Syria.
Activist Shazza Khalil, who lives in ISIS held territory, told Al-Souria Net Turkey that the group has dug tunnels around Jarablus along the Turkish border and inside the town.
ISIS members have laid mines all along the border, causing the death of many civilians who tried to cross over in to Turkish held territory illegally, Kahlil added.
She said that ISIS is planning to cover all of the town’s streets with tarpaulins to mislead warplanes.
According to the activist, ISIS has tried to reassure locals: “several days ago the group organized a military parade on Al-Saraya Street, one of the main streets in Jarablus, to show the extent of its military strength.”
“The group highlighted [the presence] of a number of Turkish fighters in its ranks.”
A local source told Khalil that an ISIS member had admitted the group could be forced out of the town.
“Perhaps, temporarily, the group will withdraw under military pressure,” the ISIS member allegedly said.
“But will Turkey [really be able to] withstand car-bombs, assassinations and other operations inside [its territory]?”
Citing the same source, Khalil said that ISIS fighters are not scared by the prospect of a potential Turkish intervention.
Tension has ramped up along the Turkish-Syrian border after reports emerged in late June that Turkey was preparing a ground incursion to create a buffer zone stretching from north of Aleppo to west of Kobane in territory currently held by ISIS in a bid to stop Kurdish forces from stretching further westward in northern Syria.
Turkey has deployed tens of thousands of ground troops along the border while the leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) warned that his party’s YPG fighters would “take a defensive position against any Turkish operation in territories under their control.”
Ground incursion reports
Yeni Safak, a paper close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), reported June 28 that that the Turkish Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff were preparing for a ground incursion with 18,000 troops.
“Ankara plans to establish a 110-km long and 28-km wide buffer zone stretching from Karkamış to Öncüpınar. The Turkish Armed Forces are expected to conduct a synchronous operation on both sides,” the report added.
The newspaper also said that the Turkish government made the decision after the “attempt to create an independent Kurdish entity” in northern Syria.
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) forces backed by international coalition airstrikes have made stunning advances against ISIS, rolling back the extremist group in northeastern Syria and linking two of their de-facto autonomous cantons in mid-June after the seizure of Tel Abyad.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 26 warned that his country “will never allow” the establishment of a Kurdish state along its border, setting the stage for the reports that Turkey’s ground incursion would aim to preempt any further Kurdish advances against ISIS along the border.
Hurriyet, a leading Turkish daily close to Erdogan’s center-left political opponents, reported that the Turkish army was reluctant to move into Syria and was “playing for time as the country heads for a new coalition government.”
Erdogan’s AKP lost their parliamentary majority in the June 7 general elections, setting the stage for complex negotiations to attempt to form a new coalition government before an August 15 deadline.
Meanwhile, Alaraby Aljadeed reported that Turkey’s foreign minister and military leadership were against Erdogan and Davutoglu’s intervention plans.
The London-based daily said the two men were “pushing for Turkish intervention in Aleppo province, in the Jarablus area in particular, to prevent Kurdish forces from advancing further on the pretext of fighting ISIS.”
The move also intended to secure a much talked of “isolated zone and no-fly zone to support moderate Syrian opposition forces and stop the movement of more Syrian refugees towards Turkish territory.”