Syrian Kurdish fighters have seized dozens of villages from Daesh group militants around the town of Kobani on the Turkish border, expanding their control in the area, a monitor said Friday. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) had captured 101 villages around Kobani since seizing it from Daesh on January 26 after four months of fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“They now control territory ranging from 15 to 25 kilometres from Kobani to the east, west and south,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The small town became a key battleground, with Daesh poised at one point to overrun it and cement its grip on a large stretch of territory along the border.
Since January 26, YPG forces have advanced steadily in the surrounding countryside, recapturing dozens of villages, some no larger than a few dozen homes. In some villages, they have met little resistance, with Daesh fighters withdrawing as they advance. But in other places there have been clashes, with the Observatory saying at least 13 Daesh fighters were killed in a YPG ambush Friday. |