ISIL main supply route to Turkey cut by Syrian rebels

AFP:
Syrian rebels seized control Thursday of the Islamic State group's main supply route to Turkey, a monitor said.

"Rebel factions and Islamists took control of the northeast of Al-Rai," a town occupied by IS on the border between Syria and Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"This is the main and one of the last crossing points with Turkey."

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that rebels entered Al-Rai on Thursday following two days of clashes.

According to Abdel Rahman, the jihadists still control a crossing point further east, in the town of Halwaniyeh, but "Al-Rai was where they mainly smuggled in jihadists, whereas Halwaniyeh is reserved for top commanders".

IS has suffered a string of setbacks in recent months, including the loss of the ancient city of Palmyra, east of Damascus, to pro-regime forces in March.
...
This could effect their manpower and replacements as well as war materials. It is another setback for ISIL that could be difficult for them to overcome.  In another development, ISIL kidnapped two to three hundred men from a factory in Syria.  It is possible that the two events may be connected as ISIL tries to replenish its manpower through coercion.

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