At least 5 ISIS fighters and 4 rebels have been killed late on Monday after clashes in Marea town in the northern countryside of Aleppo, local reporter said.
Marea is the hometown of the late prominent rebel commander, Abdulkader Saleh, who was killed in November 2013, by the Syrian forces.
The clashes erupted between an ISIS cell and Free Syrian Army fighters, 4 rebels were killed when two ISIS fighters blew themselves up inside al-Abbas mosque.
ISIS on Sunday have seized control of Marea's next-door town of Om Hosh, an advance may hinder Turkish efforts set up its planned buffer zone near the border.
Late last month, the United States and Turkey announced their intention to provide air cover for rebels and jointly sweep Islamic State from a strip of land near the border, according to Reuters.
The envisioned buffer would deny Islamic State its last remaining access to the frontier with Turkey after a string of defeats by the Kurdish YPG militia drove it from border positions further east.
In a statement dated Tuesday, Islamic State said its fighters had attacked two buildings in Marea and killed nearly 50 members of an "apostate" militia that opposes it.
The rebel commander said the targeted rebels were from a group operating under the banner of the "Free Syrian Army".
In relevant development related to war on ISIS, eight U.S. military aircraft plus 300 accompanying personnel have arrived at Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, official sources told Anadolu agency on Sunday.
Incirlik has been opened to U.S. forces, in agreement with the Turkish government, for expanded operations against ISIS targets.
On Monday, The United States and its allies launched 29 air strikes targeting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, destroying an explosives factory and other targets, Reuters said.
Eight strikes were launched in Syria, including five near Al Hasaka, according to the task force.
Zaman Al Wasl
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