Syrian Kurdish and Arab alliance advances against Islamists

A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters yesterday advanced against Islamist insurgents in the north of the country, capturing at least one village in Aleppo province, said a spokesman and a monitoring group.

Fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria seized the village of Tanab near the town of Azaz after heavy clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the powerful Ahrar al Sham, spokesman Talal Selo told Reuters. “We liberated Tanab,” he said.

Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Democratic Forces of Syria had also captured the village of Tat Mrash. Selo said he could not yet confirm its capture.