ISIS fighters advanced against rival insurgents in northern Syria Sunday, capturing areas close to a border crossing with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The fighters captured the town of Soran Azaz and two nearby villages after clashes with other rebels, the Observatory said. This meant the group could now move along a road leading north to the Bab al-Salam border crossing between the Syrian province of Aleppo and the Turkish province of Kilis. The next stop would be Syria's Azaz city, 10 km (6 miles) further north, a gateway to the border crossing close by, the Observatory added. ISIS has seized tracts of territory across Syria and Iraq. It had advanced rapidly in other parts of Syria in recent weeks, capturing the central city of Palmyra and the last border crossing between Syria and Iraq in the east. The group is fighting both rival insurgents, the Syrian military and Kurdish forces in the four-year-old conflict. Further east in Hassakeh province, a fire in a clinic caused by a gas explosion killed at least 24 people including children in Qamishli city, the Observatory said. Syrian air force strikes Saturday in Al-Shadadi town in the province had killed 43 ISIS fighters and 22 civilians, it said. Mainly Kurdish YPG forces have been battling Islamic State in Hassakeh, a strategic province for all sides in the conflict due to its position next to ISIS-held territory in Iraq. U.S-led forces have carried out air strikes on ISIS positions in the province and have worked in coordination with the Kurds. Both the U.S.-led forces and the YPG say they do not work with the Syrian military, which has also bombed the area.
