Daesh Seizes Six Villages From Syrian Rebels Near Turkish Border
MEP: Islamic State (Daesh or IS) terrorist group on Friday seized six villages from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border, AP said.
The move is in the latest advances that forced the evacuation of a hospital and trapped tens of thousands of people amid heavy fighting, Syrian opposition activists and an international medical organization said.
The advances in the northern Aleppo province brought the militants to within three 3 kilometers (2 miles) of the rebel-held town of Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south, another rebel stronghold north of Aleppo city.
The humanitarian medical organization Doctors Without Borders said its team is evacuating patients and staff from the Al Salama hospital in Azaz, after the frontline shifted to within three kilometers of the facility.
They also demonstrated the Islamic State group’s ability to stage major offensives and capture new areas, despite a string of recent losses in Syria and Iraq. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through a network of activists on the ground, said Friday’s advance was the biggest by IS in Aleppo province in two years.
