Kurds say making gains against IS in Syria

As US-led coalition strikes jihadist targets, Kurdish fighters take village in northwest from Islamic State

A female Kurdish fighter takes aim in Kobani, Syria, Wednesday, November 19, 2014 (photo credit: AP/Jake Simkin)
A female Kurdish fighter takes aim in Kobani, Syria, Wednesday, November 19, 2014 (photo credit: AP/Jake Simkin)

An activist group and a Kurdish official say Kurdish fighters are making gains against the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, amid airstrikes by the US-led coalition.

Nasser Haj Mansour, a defense official in Syria’s Kurdish region, said Saturday the fighters captured the Christian village of Tal Maghas in Hassakeh province, which had been under the control of Islamic State militants. Haj Mansour and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the village was taken overnight.

They also said airstrikes by the US-led coalition, the first in the area in days, have targeted IS positions near Tal Tamr village, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of Tal Maghas.

Syria’s main Kurdish force, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, called Friday for the US-led coalition to attack IS in Hassakeh province.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.

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