Ayn al-Arab

U.S. troops have begun rebuilding a military base in the south of Ayn al-Arab, or Kobani, which was previously evacuated during Turkey's anti-terror operation in northern Syria.

The U.S. on Oct. 13 withdrew its forces from military observation post south of Ayn Al-Arab in northern Syria, according to security sources. 

Turkey has started preparations to clear northern Syria's Ayn al-Arab, Ras al-Ain and Tel Abyad regions from militants up to the Iraqi border, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, adding that it would also clear militants from Iraq.

A Syrian Kurdish militia said on July 1 it had recovered full control of the border town of Tel Abyad after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters raided its outskirts the day before in preparation for a larger assault. 

Kurdish forces? capture of Tel Abyad, previously a stronghold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has coincided with the unfortunate June 16 confirmation of the death sentence for Mohamad Morsi, the first elected but toppled former president of Egypt.

There are reports indicating that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) may be preparing to launch an attack on the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn near the Turkish border.

Kurdish militants have wrestled control of 65 villages in Kobane's countryside from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) control since Jan. 26 in northern Syria, according to a Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) source.

Kurdish fighters have reportedly expelled the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists from the Syrian border town of Kobane after more than four months of fighting, while Iraqi forces announced landmark gains in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.

Neither Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan nor U.S. Vice President Joe Biden were able to convince each other on their priorities in the Syrian front of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during an almost four-hour meeting in Istanbul on Nov. 22, according to ranking Turkish officials.

Kurdish forces blocked a road Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants use to resupply their forces in a Syrian town on the Turkish border, a town official and a monitoring group said on Nov. 12, the first major gain against the jihadists after weeks of violence.