In Turkish villages facing Islamic State, doubt hangs over U.S. strategy

An Islamic State flag flies over the custom office of Syria's Jarablus border gate as it is pictured from the Turkish town of Karkamis, in Gaziantep province, Turkey August 1, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Packets of cigarettes and tea gathering dust in his one-room store, Mustafa Karatas doubts a joint U.S.-Turkish plan to flush Islamic State militants from the Syrian border will make much difference to his business any time soon.

This main commercial street in Karkamis, a Turkish town of 10,500 people, sits directly opposite the border post. Shut for more than a year, the military sealed the crossing with a breeze block wall a few months ago. Behind it, just inside Syria, the black flag of Islamic State flaps in the breeze.