Islamic State suffers 'biggest setback' as Kurds take key town Published duration 16 June 2015 Related Topics Syrian civil war

image copyright Reuters image caption Tel Abyad has been the scene of intense fighting for days

Syrian Kurdish fighters say they are clearing mines and booby traps from the border city of Tal Abyad after seizing it from Islamic State militants.

Kurds raised their banners in place of black IS flags, celebrating their victory over the jihadist group.

The capture of Tal Abyad gives them control of hundreds of kilometres of territory along the Turkish border.

Activists the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was IS' "biggest setback" since announcing a caliphate.

Tal Abyad was a major supply route for the group, acting as a gateway to its headquarters at Raqqa.

Bodies in the street

"The whole city is under our control and there is no more fighting," Huseyin Kocher, a Kurdish YPG commander in Tal Abyad told the BBC.

"Our people should know that we are going to clean all the remnants of IS in northern Syria."

image copyright Reuters image caption YPG units advanced from the east and west before reaching Tal Abyad

image copyright AP image caption YPG fighters set out to replace black Islamic State flags around the city

The Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) have been supported by Syrian rebel groups and air strikes by the US-led coalition against IS.

Days of fierce clashes around Tal Abyad prompted more than 16,000 civilians to flee their homes and cross the border with Turkey.

Sherfan Darwish, a spokesman for the Burkan al-Furat rebel group fighting alongside the Kurds told AFP there were "mines and car bombs everywhere".

"The bodies of IS fighters are lying in the streets," he added.

image caption Refugees flooded through holes in the fence despite Turkey closing the Akcakale border crossing

image copyright AFP image caption It was eventually reopened by the government in Ankara

YPG fighters have been moving into IS territory on either side of Raqqa province since forcing the jihadists to withdraw from Kobane in January.

Their advance has prompted criticism from Turkish officials, who fear the growing power of Kurdish forces in Syria will embolden Turkey's Kurdish minority.

On Monday, a group of 15 Syrian rebel factions accused the YPG of carrying out a "sectarian and ethnic cleansing campaign" against Arab and Turkmen civilians from Tal Abyad and the western countryside of neighbouring Hassakeh province as it advanced into IS territory.