The door to Raqqa is al-Bab

I started the day with a question from a colleague about the situation in al-Bab. I have also been looking for an answer for days during talks with generals, ambassadors and representatives of the groups in the field. 

The Euphrates Shield Operation has been going for more than 170 days. In the first 70 days, the 900 square kilometers of land between Jarablus and Marea was taken from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the next 100 days have been spent around al-Bab. 

There are those who say that the capture of al-Bab was in the plans when the Euphrates Shield was launched; there are others who say, "When the People's Protection Units (YPG) wanted to join the Afrin-Manbij corridor, then the al-Bab operation became inevitable."

We don't know which one is right, but it is certain that the toughness of the operation was known from the start.  

Turkish military commanders planning the operation wish to complete the operation with minimum casualties. For this reason, they do not foresee an urban war where special forces or the Free Syrian Army will fight street by street in al-Bab. 

Instead of this, they determine ISIL targets, together with the Air Force and hit them with artillery units. The FSA then besieges and seizes these targets. Those places seized are reinforced and are made into military quarters. 

Meanwhile, most of the casualties that have occurred up to now have happened as a result of suicide attacks at the temporary quarters the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have set up at the places seized. 

As of this moment, a highway approaching al-Bab from the north, two main roads and stabilized roads, as well as the towns of Qabasin and Bza'a on the way, have been seized by the FSA. The highway...