For the first time since 2013, ISIS has no border with NATO

Turkish troops and Syrian rebels on Sunday pushed the Islamic State out of the remaining stretch of territory the group had controlled along the Turkish-Syrian border, severing the militants’ last access to the outside world.

Since 2013, when the group announced its formation, it has had territory bordering a NATO state — Turkey — but the sweep by Turkish forces and rebels fighting under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army has brought that to an end.

According to the official Turkish news agency Anadolu, the Turkish army helped Syrian rebel allies secure 57 miles of border territory stretching from the Syrian towns of Azaz and Jarabulus by ejecting the militants from a string of villages on Sunday.

The Islamic State’s defeat in the border area had been inevitable since Turkey dispatched troops and tanks into Syria on Aug. 24 into Syria to support a long-stalled Syrian rebel offensive there, bringing new muscle to the fight.

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Image courtesy of AP