Thousands of refugees poured across the Syrian border into Turkey over the weekend after fighting intensified in the northern Syrian city of Tal Abyad. Around 3,000 refugees arrived at the Akcakale border crossing on Monday, according to state-run TRT television.
Relatives waited behind fences on the Turkish side of the border for family members to cross on Monday, according to journalists at the scene.
Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) fighters have closed in on the Islamic State-held Tal Abyad in an attempt to cut off the city from the extremist militant group's de factor capital, Raqqa.
The Kurdish advance in the area comes as U.S.-led coalition airstrikes continue against ISIS targets. The control of most of Syria is now split between Islamic militants and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
First group of #syria refugees today crossing into #turkey fleeing latest #isis fighting pic.twitter.com/hRsExHqTtm— Arwa Damon (@arwaCNN) June 15, 2015
More than 16,000 people are believed to have fled from Tal Abyad and surrounding areas into Turkey over the past two weeks.
Footage from Turkish television station Cihan show Syrian refugees cutting holes in a barbed-wire fence at the Turkish border on Sunday. Thousands of people reportedly gathered on the Syrian side of the Akcakale border crossing for a day before breaking through on Sunday afternoon.
People threw their belongings over the fence while others passed infants into Turkey over barbed wires before squeezing through an opening in the border fence. Initially, Turkish forces worked to keep the Syrians on their side of the border, but later on Sunday, Turkey opened the border to let in more refugees, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Since the beginning of May, members of the main Syrian Kurdish force, the People's Protection Units, or YPG, have taken more than 200 small Kurdish and Christian towns in northeastern Syria, as well as strategic mountains seized earlier by ISIS. They have also pushed into the Raqqa province, an ISIS stronghold.
100s of Syrians stranded on Turkish side of border. Some waiting for family to cross, others don't know where to go. pic.twitter.com/kbU1EkzT8o— DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) June 15, 2015
The Combined Joint Task Force's Operation Inherent Resolve Coalition (CJTF-OIR), the U.S.-led coalition responsible for the airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq, issued a statement on Monday saying the coalition had conducted three airstrikes against the group in Syria on Sunday.
“Coalition airstrikes are exacting a high price on Daesh terrorists across Iraq and Syria,” said Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley, CJTF-OIR chief of staff, in the statement.
He also made reference to the role that Kurdish fighters have played in recapturing territory from the group.
“Since fall 2014, Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria, enabled by the Coalition, have only taken territory from Daesh, never ceding it."
Some information in this report was provided by the Associated Press.