Syrian fighters backed by the Turkish military and US airstrikes have seized control of a Syrian border town from the Islamic State, according to the latest reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that fighters had retaken the town of Jarablus, after Turkish troops crossed the border into Syria to assist in the fight against Islamic State.
The military operation takes place as US Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Turkey and expressed solidarity with Ankara.

"We strongly support what the Turkish military has done, we have been flying air cover for them," he said, adding that "we believe very strongly that the Turkish border should be controlled by Turkey".

Kurdish forces have also been struck by Turkey. The Turkish operation has been targeting what Mr Erdogan labelled "Daesh [IS] and PYD [Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party] terror groups". The PYD fought back IS militants from the strategically important town of Manbij earlier this month.

Mr Biden said that members of the Syrian Democratic Forces – which is currently dominated by the PYD and its YPG military wing – must retreat from the boder.
"We have made it absolutely clear... that they must go back across the river," he said. "They cannot, will not, and under no circumstances get American support if they do not keep that commitment."

Meanwhile PYD leader Saleh Moslem tweeted that Turkey was now in the "Syrian quagmire" and warned that they would be defeated.

See more from the BBC here and live updates from the New York Times here.