In contested Syrian town, neighbors bridge divide

(The Christian Science Monitor) It was the first day of the holy month of Ramadan when two former neighbors reunited in Akcakale, a Turkish border town. Both were hot, thirsty, and impatient to return to Syria once the border gate reopened.

The two men and their families had been displaced by forces fighting for control of their town, Tel Abyad, in northern Syria. Fadil Omar Rasul, who is ethnically Kurdish, fled in 2013 when Sunni Arab jihadists took over the town. Abu Ibrahim Barho, who is Arab, returned home. But earlier in June he too crossed into Turkey as Kurdish-led fighters backed by U.S. air strikes drove out the self-styled Islamic State.

Now they were both going home.