Kurds Hand ISIS Defeat In Syria

Published June 17, 2015 at 12:06 PM EDT

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Syrian refugees wait prior to go back to the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad at the Turkish border post of Akcakale, the province of Sanliurfa, on June 17, 2015. The first Syrian refugees returned to the border town of Tal Abyad from Turkey after it was liberated from the Islamic State group, an AFP journalist reported. Kurdish forces took the strategic town on Tuesday after several days of intense fighting, which sparked an exodus of more than 23,000 refugees into neighbouring Turkey. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

Hundreds of Syrians have returned to the border town of Tal Abyad from Turkey, a day after Kurdish fighters drove out militants with the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

Kurdish fighters took full control of Tal Abyad, dealing a major blow to the group’s ability to wage war in Syria by cutting off a vital supply line to its self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa.

The Kurdish advance caused the displacement of about 23,000 people who fled the fighting to Turkey over the past two weeks, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Mitchell Prothero, Iraq bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, joins Here & Now’s Robin Young from Gaziantep in Turkey, near the border with Syria.

Guest

Mitchell Prothero, Iraq bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers. He tweets @mitchprothero.