Syrian Kurdish fighters have seized dozens of villages from Islamic State group jihadists around the town of Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan 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 IS 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 (nine to 16 miles) from Kobani to the east, west and south,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The small town became a key battleground, with IS poised at one point to overrun it and cement its grip on a large stretch of territory along the border.