(Zaman Al Wasl)- French and Russian air strikes in northern Syria have killed at least 33 jihadists with the Islamic State group in the last 72 hours, AFP said on Wednesday.
Dozens of IS fighters were also wounded in the raids on weapons depots, barracks and checkpoints in the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital of Raqa, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
France intensified strikes on Raqa following last week's attacks in Paris that left 129 dead, with warplanes carrying out dozens of raids on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Russia also pounded Raqa with long-range bombers and sea-launched missiles on Tuesday, after Moscow confirmed that a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.
"The limited number of deaths can be explained by the fact that the jihadists had taken precautions," said Abdel Rahman, who relies on a network of activists, medics and other sources inside Syria.
He said many families of foreign fighters had also left the city for Mosul in Iraq, another stronghold of IS, which has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.
In relevant development, Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces fighting ISIS in northeast Syria, has deployed more troops in readiness for more attacks on the group strongholds.
SDF spokesman, Talal Ali Sello, said Monday the alliance had driven ISIS militants out of nearly 200 villages.
The SDF was formed in mid-October as an alliance between the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and rebel groups including Arab and Assyrian militias.
Sello, at a press conference, said "between October 30 and November 13, an area of 1,362 square kilometers was cleansed of ISIS".
That area included 196 towns and villages, among them al-Hol which lies along a strategic ISIS supply route and where Sello made his comments.
He said these "victories" had been achieved with air support from a US-led coalition striking ISIS targets in Syria over the past year.
Abd al Ali, an activie in Hasaka media center, stold Zaman Al Wasl that hundreds of families in massive exdos had fled Al-Hol area and neighbouring villages. Some of them headed ISIS-held town of al-Shadadi town.
The offensive south of the city of Hasakah, where control is divided between Syria's regime and Kurdish militia, saw the alliance take several villages before seizing Al-Hol on Thursday.
According to Sello, 493 ISIS militants, 33 SDF fighters and four civilians were killed in the two weeks of fighting.
Another 53 SDF fighters were wounded.
The "balance sheet" presented in the SDF statement also said the alliance had seized hundreds of weapons and munitions and destroyed dozens of vehicles used by ISIS.
Since it began in 2011, Syria's war has fractured into a complex array of fronts between Kurds, rebels, regime and militants, and has killed more than 250,000 people. (With agencies)
Dozens of IS fighters were also wounded in the raids on weapons depots, barracks and checkpoints in the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital of Raqa, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
France intensified strikes on Raqa following last week's attacks in Paris that left 129 dead, with warplanes carrying out dozens of raids on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Russia also pounded Raqa with long-range bombers and sea-launched missiles on Tuesday, after Moscow confirmed that a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.
"The limited number of deaths can be explained by the fact that the jihadists had taken precautions," said Abdel Rahman, who relies on a network of activists, medics and other sources inside Syria.
He said many families of foreign fighters had also left the city for Mosul in Iraq, another stronghold of IS, which has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.
In relevant development, Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces fighting ISIS in northeast Syria, has deployed more troops in readiness for more attacks on the group strongholds.
SDF spokesman, Talal Ali Sello, said Monday the alliance had driven ISIS militants out of nearly 200 villages.
The SDF was formed in mid-October as an alliance between the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and rebel groups including Arab and Assyrian militias.
Sello, at a press conference, said "between October 30 and November 13, an area of 1,362 square kilometers was cleansed of ISIS".
That area included 196 towns and villages, among them al-Hol which lies along a strategic ISIS supply route and where Sello made his comments.
He said these "victories" had been achieved with air support from a US-led coalition striking ISIS targets in Syria over the past year.
Abd al Ali, an activie in Hasaka media center, stold Zaman Al Wasl that hundreds of families in massive exdos had fled Al-Hol area and neighbouring villages. Some of them headed ISIS-held town of al-Shadadi town.
The offensive south of the city of Hasakah, where control is divided between Syria's regime and Kurdish militia, saw the alliance take several villages before seizing Al-Hol on Thursday.
According to Sello, 493 ISIS militants, 33 SDF fighters and four civilians were killed in the two weeks of fighting.
Another 53 SDF fighters were wounded.
The "balance sheet" presented in the SDF statement also said the alliance had seized hundreds of weapons and munitions and destroyed dozens of vehicles used by ISIS.
Since it began in 2011, Syria's war has fractured into a complex array of fronts between Kurds, rebels, regime and militants, and has killed more than 250,000 people. (With agencies)
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