Kurdish YPG defeats IS fighters in northern Syrian towns

DAMASCUS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) — Kurdish militants dislodged Tuesday fighters of the Islamic State (IS) group from new towns in the vicinity of predominantly Kurdish cities in northern Syria, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.

The People’s Protection Units (YPG) recaptured the towns of Okhan, Karmarar and Bandar Anzan in the western countryside of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane), near the Turkish borders, the report said, adding that the YPG also managed to route the IS fighters out of the town of Holaqi in the eastern part of the city.

In the countryside of al-Hasaka province, the YPG restored the town of Tal Hurmoz following clashes with IS, according to the report.

The fresh advancement caped previous successes the YPG had achieved in dislodging the IS out of Ayn al-Arab and most of its vicinity earlier this week.

Earlier in the day, the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS fighters were fleeing the surroundings of the Ayn al-Arab due to the progress of the YPG.

Separately, the Observatory said the Syrian warplanes carried out six airstrikes against the IS positions in the town of Jafra, near a key military airbase in eastern province of Deir al-Zour, noting that clashes are still incessant in that town amid the advancement of the IS there.

Citing “trustworthy” sources, the Observatory reported that the IS militants captured the building of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian group.

It added that the incident stocked fears that there would be a shortage in the medical supplies to the affected people inside Deir al-Zour, as the IS took all of the medical supplies in that facility located in the city of Mayadeen in the countryside of that oil-rich province near the Iraqi borders.

 

 

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