Kurdish forces gain foothold against IS in Syria

Damascus, June 24: Kurdish-led forces backed by US coalition warplanes gained a foothold in Syria on Tuesday after they captured a town from the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria's al-Raqqa province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The People's Protection Units (YPG) and allied forces from Syrian rebel groups succeeded in taking control of Ain Issa town in al-Raqqa, the radical group's main stronghold in Syria, Xinhua quoted the Britain-based rights group as saying.

Earlier in an overnight operation, the Kurdish fighters captured the IS-held Brigade-93 military base, which was taken from the Syrian government troops last year.

The IS militants withdrew toward the eastern outskirts of Ain Issa and the northern countryside of Raqqa.

The aerial bombardment of the US-led anti-terror coalition has helped the Kurds achieve their new victory.

Tuesday's achievement capped other victories the Kurds have recently scored against the IS militants in the heart of their stronghold in Syria.

Last week, the YPG-led forces captured the city of Tal Abyad on the Syrian-Turkish border.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said the Kurds victory in Ain Issa pushed the defences of the IS back to the outskirts of the provincial capital of Raqqa, adding that the city of Tal Abyad, which was captured last week by the Kurds, constituted the economic backbone of the IS.

IANS