Syria-Turkey border cleared of IS - Turkish PM Yildirim
AFP
Turkey's operation in Syria began on 24 August and it has sent tanks and war planes to back up opposition
fighters.
Monitors said the presence of so-called Islamic State (IS) on the border had been ended. Turkey also describes Kurdish groups as terrorists.
The advance cuts off IS supply lines it used to import fighters and weapons.
Separately, Syrian state forces recaptured parts of Aleppo lost to rebels last month.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made the announcement about Ankara's military successes in a televised speech on Sunday.
He said: "Thank God, today, from Azaz to Jarablus, our 91km of borderline with Syria has been entirely secured.
"All the terrorist organisations were pushed back - they are gone."
As well as IS, Turkey considers the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish group, to be a terrorist group. The YPG, which is backed by the US-led coalition, had been gaining territory in the north of Syria.
Mr Yildirim said Turkey would never allow the formation of an artificial state in the north of Syria.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "rebels and Islamist factions backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes" had taken several villages on the border between Turkey and Syria "after IS withdrew from them, ending IS's presence on the border".
Map showing areas of control in northern Syria at the end of AugustI
On Sunday, Syrian government forces put rebel-held districts in the east of Aleppo under siege once again, monitors said.
Reports said government troops had recaptured two military academy sites in the south of the city and severed a recently-established rebel supply line.
The government offensive was backed by Syrian and Russian air strikes.
There are about 250,000 civilians living in the city's rebel-held areas.
Aleppo has been divided by the country's bitter civil war, with various rebel groups controlling parts of the east of the city and pro-government forces the west.
Pro-government forces slowly surrounded the city and in July cut off access to rebel-held areas.
The brief supply line established by rebel advances early last month allowed some goods into the area but aid agencies have been unable to reach the population.
Operating with support from Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad intends to recapture all of Aleppo from the rebel fighters.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the US and Russia were struggling to reach a ceasefire agreement on Syria.
Speaking to reporters at the G20 meeting in China, Mr Obama said: "We have grave differences with the Russians in terms of both the parties we support but also the process that is required to bring about peace in Syria."
Source: BBC News
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