Whoever seizes what is now Islamic State territory will control the border between Iraq and Syria, as well as fault lines between

Whoever seizes what is now Islamic State territory will control the border between Iraq and Syria, as well as fault lines between Kurdish groups seeking autonomy and populations that oppose them.

For instance, the seizing of Dabiq and other towns by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels has sharpened tensions with Kurdish militias. The Kurds wanted to take the area from the Islamic State to unite two separate Kurdish enclaves; blocking them was a main aim of the Turks, who consider the Syrian Kurds allies of a Kurdish insurgency on Turkish soil.

And as the Mosul battle heated up on Tuesday, there was talk of a higher-stakes race to Raqqa, with the French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, saying that the United States-led coalition should push on to that city next.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/world/middleeast/islamic-state-syria-iraq.html?emc=edit_ee_20161019&nl=todaysheadlines-europe&nlid=66327825&_r=0