Thousands flee IS offensive in northern Syria

Thousands of civilians are fleeing an offensive by the Islamic State group against non-jihadist rebels in northern Syria into territory controlled by a US-backed Kurdish-led alliance.

At least 29 civilians have been killed since IS launched the assault early on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“More than 6,000 civilians, most of them women and children, were able to flee areas in the countryside of Aleppo province… especially from Marea town and Sheikh Issa village” to its west, the Britain-based monitoring group says.

The displaced people are arriving in areas in the west and north of Aleppo province under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters regarded bt Washington as the most effective force on the ground in Syria against the jihadists of IS.

— AFP