Walls and watchtowers rise as Turkey tries to seal border against Islamic State

A Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighter walks near a wall, which activists said was put up by Turkish authorities, on the Syria-Turkish border in the western countryside of Ras al-Ain, Syria January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said

ELBEYLI, Turkey (Reuters) - Slabs of concrete wall have sprung up and military patrols have intensified, but local people say this stretch of Turkey's border facing Syrian territory under Islamic State control is still far from water-tight.

Ankara is under intense pressure from its NATO allies to seal off the 70 km (40 mile) strip that stretches from just east of the Turkish town of Kilis to Karkamis, long a conduit for fighters, smuggled goods and war materiel.