Rebels backed by jets charge at IS on Iraq-Syria border

Syrian rebels aided by US-led airstrikes have launched an offensive against an Islamic State stronghold near the Iraqi border, hoping to sever one of the extremists’ main transit links between the two countries, a rebel spokesman said.

The spokesman for the New Syrian Army group and a Syrian opposition activist say the operation will be coordinated with Iraqi tribesmen and Iraqi forces battling IS on the other side of the border. The extremist group has suffered a string of setbacks in both countries in recent weeks.

“The time has come to punish all those who were unjust to children and women, those who executed or tortured men and women,” the New Syrian Army says in a statement. It called on residents of the Syrian border town of Boukamal to stay away from IS positions during the operation.

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Rebel spokesman Mozahem al-Saloum says warplanes from the US-led coalition launched several airstrikes on IS positions in the area Tuesday afternoon ahead of the ground offensive.

“Our aim is to cut Syria from Iraq” by capturing Boukamal and surrounding areas, al-Saloum says by telephone.

— AP