Rebels on Friday have thwarted an ISIS attack on rebel-held town of Marea near the Turkish border where Ankara plans to set up a safe zone, rebel source told Zaman al-Wasl.
Marea town, some 20 km (12 miles), south of the Turkish border, has witnessed intensified fighting between Western-backed rebels and Islamist insurgents who have gained further ground, threatening the fall of most of the northern countryside of Aleppo into their hands.
At least 47 fighters were killed in the ongoing clashes near Marea, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.
Abu al-Abed, field commander in al-Shamiya Front (Levant Front) said 15 ISIS fighters were killed and two others were held in captivity on Friday. Rebels also had destroyed an ISIS explosives-laden vehicle, he added.
ISIS seized control of five villages near Marea last week but rebels were able to take back Sandaf and Harajlah villages after fierce clashes, Abu al-Abed said.
On Tuesday, al-Shamiya Front had killed three foreign fighters -- two Saudis and a Tunisian -- with the Islamic State in an undercover raid into an area under the control of of ISIS near Marea, Reuters said.
The alliance of moderate rebels said the operation was conducted by their clandestine security unit and was the first of its kind, pledging further such commando strikes in the future.
Islamic State has escalated attacks against rebels in the northern Aleppo countryside since Turkey announced plans to drive the group from the area.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday Turkey had attempted to convince the world to set up a safe zone inside Syria to stem the flow of refugees from the war-torn country, but nobody heard its voice.
He was speaking at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs in Ankara, days after images of a drowned Syrian toddler washed up on a Turkish beach sparked renewed debate on how to tackle the migrant crisis, according to Reuters.
The jihadists have since May made advances that threaten a major supply route used by rival rebels into the city of Aleppo.
Islamic State holds large swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq, and has advanced in other areas of Syria in recent months, capturing the central city of Palmyra.
The jihadist group is fighting rival insurgents, the Syrian military and Kurdish regional forces alike in Syria's four-year-old civil war.
Zaman Al Wasl
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