Syria: Syrian Kurdish YPG militia gain ground against Islamic State (IS) in Syria
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia has announced that it has begun advancing towards an Islamic State-held town at the Turkish border on Saturday, penetrating deeper into the jihadists’ stronghold of Raqqa province in a campaign backed by U.S.-led air strikes.
A militia spokesman told the press that the YPG and smaller Syrian Arab rebel groups fighting alongside it had begun the move towards Tel Abyad after they encircled the Islamic State-held town of Suluk 20 km (12 miles) to the southeast.
Tel Abyad is important to Islamic State as the nearest border town to its de facto capital of Raqqa city.
The YPG has made a determined push into Raqqa province from neighbouring Hasaka where, with the help of the U.S.-led alliance, it has driven Islamic State from wide areas of territory since early May.