Turkish-backed rebels seize centre of al-Bab from Isil fighters in Syria

Syrian rebels backed by Turkey pushed Isil fighters out of the centre of the town al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish state media said, in what be a step towards driving the jihadists away from Turkey’s border with Syria. 

Al-Bab is one of the the last Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) strongholds in northern Syria and Turkish troops and their rebel proxies have been fighting since December to pry the town out of Isil’s hands. 

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said Thursday afternoon that rebel fighters had taken control of the town centre and were clearing out explosives and booby traps left behind by the jihadists.

However, fighting continued in other areas of the town and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that more than half of al-Bab remained under jihadist control. 

As with other Syrian and Iraqi towns recaptured from Isil, it could take weeks to flush out the group’s remaining fighters and even longer to make the area safe for civilians to return. 

An official with the Fastaqim rebel group told Reuters that all strategic areas of the town had been seized but that street fighting continued. 

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, launched Operation Euphrates Shield in August in an effort to push the jihadists away from the Turkish-Syrian border but also to stop the advance of Kurdish militias who had made ground in northern Syria. 

Turkish ground forces entered northern Syrian in support of rebel factions and the government but progress has been slow, especially in the grinding fight for al-Bab. 

Meanwhile, fighting continued between rebels and the Syrian regime even as peace talks between the two sides resumed in Geneva for the first time in a year.

Representatives of the Assad regime and the Syria opposition are in Switzerland for talks under very different circumstances from the last time they gathered in early 2016.

Aided by Russian airpower and the support of Iranian troops and Shia militias, Bashar al-Assad is far stronger on the battlefield and more confident of his position within the country. 

The talks are also the first to take place since Donald Trump took office in the US. 

Mr Trump has not yet detailed a strategy for Syria but his past comments indicate he may cut American support for the opposition and might be open to military cooperation with Russia.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN mediator for the Geneva talks, has played down expectations of a peace deal emerging. “I am not expecting a breakthrough,” he said.