Report says IS advances against Syria rebels near Turkey

Islamic State (IS) militants made a sweeping advance against rival jihadi groups in northern Syria near Turkey, a monitor group reported on Thursday.

The terror-labeled group is still engaged in intense battles against an array of jihadi groups in the northern countryside of Syria's province of Aleppo, managing to capture Hur Kils and other adjacent towns near the Turkish borders.

The raging battles were coupled by airstrikes conducted by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition against the IS positions in northern Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The London-based group said the jihadi groups unleashed a counter-offensive on the IS-controlled towns, recapturing some points.

Losses have been reported on both sides as a result of the exchange of fire, said the Observatory, which says its information comes from a network of activists on the ground inside Syria.

Aleppo, once the economic hub of Syria, has seen intense battles recently between the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Syrian army in the southern countryside of the city.

The Nusra and likeminded groups attempted to wage attacks at least two times over the past week, prompting the Syrian air force to respond with heavy airstrikes on the group, which has been trying to build a momentum in Aleppo near Turkey.

Nusra militants are already in control of much of the northwestern province of Idlib, as part of a broader alliance with several jihadi groups under the umbrella of the so-called Jaish al-Fateh, or the Conquer Army.

The Syrian military's general command threatened recently to strike with an "iron fist" all those who attempt to attack army posts in Aleppo.

The Nusra Front is excluded from a U.S.-Russian brokered truce, but its alliances with other rebel factions that were meant to be included in the truce complicated the situation and threatened the cease-fire as the army found itself obliged to respond to the attacks.

A day earlier, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said over 100 rebels were killed over the previous 24 hours in southern Aleppo by the Syrian military forces. Endit