Kurds Seize Ain Issa, Close to ISIS ‘Capital’ of Raqqa

Kurdish-led forces have seized the strategically important town of Ain Issa from the Islamic State.

Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) spokesman Redur Xelil told Reuters the forces captured the town while being backed by U.S.-led airstrikes and smaller rebel groups.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the civil war, confirmed that Islamic State fighters had withdrawn from the town, which is within 50 km of Raqqa, the Islamists’ de facto capital.

However, Xelil said an assault on Raqqa was not currently planned. Observers suggested the Kurds’ plan was “to seize control of an east–west highway running through Ain Issa, which links the city of Aleppo with the northeastern province of Hassakeh,” according to Reuters.

The assault on Ain Issa came just hours after the Kurdish-led fighters took the nearby Liwa-93 military base, which ISIS had captured from the government last year.

The taking of Ain Issa is the latest in a string of victories for the Kurds, who also seized the town of Tal Abyad on the border with Turkey the week before.

In related news, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammed al-Adnani urged fighters to escalate attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and pledged “surprise after surprise” in the coming days.

ISIS Destroys Ancient Shrines in Palmyra

ISIS militants have blown up two ancient shrines they consider sacrilegious in Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old UNESCO world heritage site.

The Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said the jihadists blew up the tombs of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad’s cousin, and Nizar Abu Bahaaeddine, a religious figure from Palmyra, three days ago.

Before-and-after pictures released by the group show several militants carrying explosives, and the shrines – which are not among the city’s monumental Roman-era buildings – reduced to rubble.

ISIS seized Palmyra in May. Earlier this week the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants had planted mines in Palmyra, but it was unclear if the aim was to prepare to destroy the site or deter a potential government advance. Syrian forces have also bombed the city.

The news of the damage in Palmyra came as the Syrian military and allied militias reported advances against the Islamic radicals northwest of the city. Syrian state television said the forces took control of the area surrounding the Jazal oil field, territory that contains important sites for energy production in Homs province, and killed a number of Islamic State fighters.

Syria Complains of West’s ‘Crocodile Tears’

Following the release of a U.N. report accusing Damascus of war crimes in Aleppo, Syria accused the West of double standards for demanding it halt its airstrikes on the city.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry accused the West of ignoring the fact that Syria is fighting extremists and of “shedding crocodile tears” for the people of Syria, Press TV reported. It also complained that the West was trying to cover up militant atrocities, and said the U.S. and its allies played “a detrimental role in the situation.”

The U.N. report accused government forces of causing mass civilian casualties by using indiscriminate weapons such as barrel bombs, which amount to a war crime.

Recommended reads

• Financial Times: Syria: A Fight for Credibility
• The New York Times: Grisly ISIS Video Seems Aimed at Quashing Resistance
• USA Today: Syrian Kurds Victory over ISIL Could Stir up Problems
• World Politics Review: Decade of Exile: Syria and the Middle East’s Refugee Crisis
• Financial Times: Syria Edges towards Partition
• The Guardian: Syria Conflict Causes Refugee Surge, Focus on Tackling HIV and Aids, Papal Encyclical Ignores Population Growth