Intelligence group: Turkey prefers ISIS on border than Kurds

Turkey’s preparations come as concerns grow of a major escalation in the Syrian province of Aleppo that would include Islamic State (IS) jihadists, rebels, government forces and Kurds.

A spokesman for the YPG could not immediately be reached for comment, but had earlier reported an attack by large numbers of Daesh fighters on YPG positions in the area about 50 km north of Raqqa city.

Kurdish female fighters of the Women Protection Units (YPJ) participated in Ain Issa battle alongside the YPG, a Kurdish military source told ARA News on Wednesday.

Beirut – Daesh fighters stormed a Syrian town held by Kurdish-led forces near Raqqa city on Monday, part of a wider offensive by the militants two days after their de facto capital was hit by some of the heaviest US-led air strikes in the conflict.

But, yesterday, the ultra-hardline group was still in control of Ain Issa, the Observatory said.

The new camp is planned to have space for 55,000 people and will address the needs of an influx of Syrian refugees who are thought likely to flock to Turkey following a potential attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the town of Azaz in northern Syria.

The Observatory, a British-based organisation reporting on Syria’s four-year-old civil war, said the coalition had played an “effective role” in helping YPG forces recover 11 villages northeast of Ain Issa. However, Kurdish fighters of the YPG regained the town after fierce clashes with the militant group.

US President Barack Obama said on Monday the United States would do more to train and equip “the moderate opposition”.