BEIRUT: A US-backed Kurdish faction in Syria says it has captured an Italian member of the Islamic State group as he was trying to flee to neighboring Turkey.
The People’s Protection Units, or YPG, released a video late Thursday of the young bearded man who identified himself as Samir Bougana, known among the extremist group as Abu Abdullah.
The man said he had been in areas once held by the extremists for about two to three years and was captured near the northern city of Raqqa as he was trying to cross into Turkey with his wife and daughters.
YPG is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces that, under the cover of airstrikes by the US-led coalition, seized Raqqa from the militants in 2017.
SDF captured scores of foreign IS fighters.
A senior official has confirmed that Turkey has reinforced Turkish troops manning 12 security posts around Idlib as the Syrian army prepares for a military offensive to reclaim control of the province.
The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, and did not provide further information.
Syrian activists said Thursday that a Turkish convoy entered from Kfar Lusin crossing into northern Idlib, heading to some of the 12 Turkish observations posts. A video shot by activists of the monitoring group Central Station for Turkish Intervention showed armored and gun-mounted vehicles and tanks driving through an Idlib road.
Turkey deployed hundreds of soldiers at 12 observations posts that circle Idlib, following a de-escalation agreement it reached with Russia and Iran last year.