Turkey has reportedly increased its aerial strikes on the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, with one week passing since Ankara declared that it was close to conquering the Syrian city from the Islamic State, but a war monitor said the jihadists still controlled 90 percent of the town and that shelling and air strikes had killed dozens of civilians in recent days.
Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold located some 30 km from the Turkish border, has been a prime target since Turkey launched an incursion into its southern neighbor last August, aimed at eradicating the Islamic State and Kurdish militias from its southern frontier. Taking control of the town of Al-Bab would deepen Turkish influence in an area of Syria, where it has already effectively created a buffer zone and will allow Turkish forces to press on toward the city of Raqqa, which is the Islamic State’s de facto capital in the war-torn country.