The Royal Air Force will join an offensive to seal off Isil’s last international border and block foreign fighters from travelling to and from the group’s territory.The US is planning intense air strikes against the “Manbij pocket”, a 60-mile stretch of Isil-controlled Syria along the frontier with Turkey. On its western flank, the so-called 'Marea line', the pocket is under attack by Western-backed Syrian rebel troops. To its east is territory around the town of Kobane, recaptured by Kurdish forces in June.
Denying Isil its only stretch of border will make it significantly harder for young Britons and other westerners to reach the terror group’s so-called state. It will also obstruct terrorists such as Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the leader of the Paris attacks, who travelled back from Isil territory to Paris.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Feridun Sinirlioglu, said his country and the US were about to launch a joint operation to “put an end to the control Isil is still exercising on a zone of our frontier”, adding: “Our operations will continue with more and more intensity. You will see this in the days to come.”
RAF Reaper drones flying over the area will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for bombing raids by Turkish and American F-15 and F-16 jets, it is understood.
If MPs vote to back RAF bombing in Syria, British Tornado bombers will join the operation. The bombing will allow anti-Isil ground forces on both sides to advance, US officials say.
“As friendly forces push east from the Marea line, the idea is that they will link up with friendly forces that are on the other side of the Manbij pocket and seal that border off,” said Col Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the US air strikes in Syria and Iraq.
Attacks on the Manbij pocket have previously been prevented by Turkey’s unwillingness to see Kurdish groups taking more territory inside Syria. In the wake of the Paris attacks, however, some of the diplomatic obstacles have been resolved.