Arab and Kurd fighters kill 16 of ISIS in Syria

Arab and Kurdish forces have killed at least 16 fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS) group during fierce clashes north of the jihadists’ stronghold of Raqqa, a monitor said Sunday.

The jihadists launched an offensive last Wednesday against areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces coalition near to Ain Issa, a town held by the SDF some 50 km from Raqqa, killing 21 Kurdish fighters.

Late on Saturday, “16 jihadists were killed and 19 wounded” in clashes with the SDF near Ain Issa, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The SDF also recaptured an area seized by the ISIS a few days earlier, he said.

The alliance, made up of units from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Arab fighters, has carried out several major operations against the ISIS.

On December 26, it seized the Tishreen Dam from the ISIS along with several villages on the Euphrates’ eastern bank.

The dam, held by the ISIS since 2014, helps generate electricity for large parts of the northern Aleppo province, the Observatory said.

It was the alliance’s second major operation, after clearing the ISIS from some 200 villages in the north-eastern province of Hasakeh.

Meanwhile, the ISIS killed at least 12 members of the Iraqi security forces Sunday when several suicide attackers infiltrated a base near Tikrit, security officials said.

The target was a police force from Nineveh, the northern province of which Mosul is the capital, that was undergoing training at the Speicher military base.