Special to WorldTribune.com

Kurdish YPG fighters along with allies from the Free Syrian Army seized the border town of Tal Abyad from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) on June 16.

The victory was a significant one for the Kurds as Tal Abyad, on the Turkish border, was a key cog in ISIL’s supply line to its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

“Daesh has been broken at the hands of the YPG… it is a victory for all Syrians,” senior Kurdish commander Haqi Kobane told The Associated Press, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

ISIL had controlled Tal Abyad for more than a year and had left behind mines and booby traps that Kobane said YPG and Free Syrian Army forces were clearing before the town’s residents could return.

The Kurds received air support from the United States during their advance on ISIL in Tal Abyad.

ISIL continues to hold about a third of Iraq and Syria, including Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul.

  Free Syrian Army, Syrian Kurds, take key border town from ISIL, Tal Abyad, with U.S. air support, WorldTribune.com, YPG