(Zama, Al Wasl)- A Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army on Wednesday has recaptured a border town in Aleppo province from the Islamic State, activist said.
The ISIS-run Amaq new agency said earlier Wednesday that the radical group fighters had taken control of Akhtarin town near the Turkish border, hours before the FSA fighters pushing ISIS out of the town.
Amaq said Tuesday that ISIS had taken control of 13 villages in the northern countryside of Aleppo city. The surprise advance came after almost two months of retreat since the beginning the Turkish military campaign, the Euphrates Shield, to expel ISIS from the border towns.
Also in Aleppo, the resistance fighters rejected Russian demands that they withdraw from Aleppo by Friday evening, a commander said.
In Latakia province, the opposition forces have repulsed an attack by the regime on the Jabal al-Akrad region, local sources said.
The sources told Anadolu Agency that regime forces on Wednesday morning had launched a mortar attack on Latakia’s Jabal al-Tuffahiya area.
Regime forces had then tried to advance on Jabal al-Akrad, the sources added, leading to violent clashes between regime troops and opposition forces.
Clashes continued until Wednesday afternoon, when regime forces were forced to withdraw after suffering substantial human and material losses, the same sources said.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed -- and millions displaced -- by the conflict, which pits the regime and its regional allies against several heavily-armed opposition groups. (With agencies)
The ISIS-run Amaq new agency said earlier Wednesday that the radical group fighters had taken control of Akhtarin town near the Turkish border, hours before the FSA fighters pushing ISIS out of the town.
Amaq said Tuesday that ISIS had taken control of 13 villages in the northern countryside of Aleppo city. The surprise advance came after almost two months of retreat since the beginning the Turkish military campaign, the Euphrates Shield, to expel ISIS from the border towns.
Also in Aleppo, the resistance fighters rejected Russian demands that they withdraw from Aleppo by Friday evening, a commander said.
"This is completely out of the
question. We will not give up the city of Aleppo to the Russians and we
won't surrender," Zakaria Malahifji of the Fastaqim rebel group told
Reuters.
Russia's defense ministry said rebels
and civilians would be allowed to leave the eastern opposition-held part
of Aleppo and signaled it would extend a moratorium on air strikes
inside the city.
However, Malahifji said there were no safe exit corridors, as Russia had stated.
"It's
not true. Civilians and fighters are not leaving. Civilians are afraid
of the regime, they don't trust it. And the fighters are not
surrendering," he said.
In Latakia province, the opposition forces have repulsed an attack by the regime on the Jabal al-Akrad region, local sources said.
The sources told Anadolu Agency that regime forces on Wednesday morning had launched a mortar attack on Latakia’s Jabal al-Tuffahiya area.
Regime forces had then tried to advance on Jabal al-Akrad, the sources added, leading to violent clashes between regime troops and opposition forces.
Clashes continued until Wednesday afternoon, when regime forces were forced to withdraw after suffering substantial human and material losses, the same sources said.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed -- and millions displaced -- by the conflict, which pits the regime and its regional allies against several heavily-armed opposition groups. (With agencies)
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