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U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish fighters kill 34 IS militants in Syria

Xinhua, July 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 34 militants with the Islamic State (IS) terror group were killed during clashes with Kurdish fighters and by airstrikes of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition in northern Syria, a monitor group reported Thursday.

Most of those killed were fighting in the town of Ain Issa in the northern countryside of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It added that 26 of them were Syrian nationals while the rest were foreigners.

The IS has been engaged in intense battles against the Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), who are backed by the strikes of the U.S.-led coalition, in the town of Ain Issa.

The town changed hands twice this week, as the IS stripped the Kurds of their position in the town earlier this week, but the later managed, by the support of the U.S.-led airstrikes, to retake the town again over the past 24 hours.

The importance of Ain Issa emanates from its proximity to the city of Raqaa, the stronghold of the IS. When the town was taken by the Kurds, the IS felt threatened as the YPG fighters were only 30 km from the Raqqa city. Endit