Syria rebels take Iraq border crossing from Islamic State

Government forces, IS battle over supply route leading to Aleppo, watchdog says; state news agency claims dozens of jihadist fighters killed

By AP 5 March 2016, 5:35 pm

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Syrians fleeing the northern embattled city of Aleppo wait at the Bab al-Salama crossing on the border between Syria and Turkey, on February 5, 2016. (AFP / STRINGER)

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels have seized control of the Syrian side of a major border crossing with Iraq from the Islamic State group, activists said Saturday.

The Local Coordination Committees said US-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front killed one IS fighter and wounded several others in the process of taking the Tanaf border crossing late Friday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on activists inside Syria, said the FSA fighters crossed into Syria from Jordan to launch the attack.

The IS-affiliated Aamaq News Agency denied the crossing had been captured. The IS group had controlled the crossing, located in southeastern Syria, since government forces withdrew in May 2015.

IS fighters meanwhile attacked the government’s supply route to the contested northern city of Aleppo, killing 15 soldiers, the Observatory said. Government forces repelled the attack and secured the road, according to the Observatory and SANA, the Syrian state news agency.