According to Al-Manar, Syrian forces have been carrying out an offensive south of the northeastern border city of Qamishli, aimed at weakening the militants’ “security ring” around the area and regaining control of the strategically important heights in the Abu Qasayeb and Tal Ghazal settlements. From here, IS militants have been able to carry out attacks on Qamishli and the nearby airport.
Most of the IS militants killed in the military offensive were foreign nationals who had entered Syria through Turkey, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Meanwhile, in the port city of Latakia, not far from the western part of the Syria-Turkey border, Syrian forces have reportedly destroyed warehouses with the IS’s weapons and military equipment.
IS fighters, who have declared an Islamic caliphate on the territories under their control, are also being targeted by airstrikes carried out by an international coalition led by the United States.
