The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that following gains in both Homs province in the centre and Aleppo province in the north, IS now controlled half of the country's land area.
Geographer and analyst Fabrice Balanche said that across Iraq and Syria, the jihadist group now controlled nearly 300,000 square kilometres (115,000 square miles), an area the size of Italy.
In Aleppo province -- on Syria's border with Turkey -- IS has expanded its control at the expense of rival rebel groups.
IS captured the village of Suran on Sunday taking them to within 10 kilometres (six miles) of the border, the Observatory said.
Three days of heavy fighting left 30 IS fighters and 45 rival rebels dead, the Britain-based watchdog said.
On Monday, the group advanced towards the town of Marea, which lies on a key supply route from Turkey for its rebel opponents.
IS previously targeted Marea in April, detonating two car bombs and killing 15 rebel fighters, but it was unable to take the town.
In central Syria, IS ousted government forces on Saturday from a strategic crossroads south of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra.
The checkpoint and nearby village of Basireh lead south to Damascus and west to Homs, as well as east to IS-controlled areas of Iraq.
"The road is now open (for IS) from Palmyra to Anbar province in Iraq, without any obstacles," said local activist Mohammed Hassan al-Homsi....
AFP
TV100F.COM
1/6/15
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ISIS Gains in Syria Threaten Rebel Links to Turkey ...
ReplyDeleteIslamic extremists overran three towns in northern Syria this weekend, capturing them from Western-backed Free Syrian Army rebels and Islamist brigades as Syrian warplanes struck widely across the north of the country, dropping barrel bombs on towns controlled by both competing insurgent groups.
Despite FSA claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, were coordinating their attacks, two of the biggest barrel bombs were dropped on the town of Al Bab, controlled by Islamic State.
The bombs dropped Saturday on a crowded market in the center of the town northeast of Aleppo left at least 71 people dead, including children, according to local political activists..........http://www.voanews.com/content/islamic-state-gains-in-syria-threaten-rebel-links-to-turkey/2803120.html
1/6/15