Islamic State militants fight rebels in Syrian opposition stronghold

PanARMENIAN.Net - Islamic State militants entered a Syrian opposition stronghold in the country's north on Saturday, May 28, clashing with rebels on the edges of the town as the extremist group built on its most significant advance near the Turkish border in two years, Syrian opposition groups and IS media said, according to the Associated Press.

More than 160,000 civilians are trapped in the fighting, which also forced the evacuation of one of the few remaining hospitals in the area, run by the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders.

On Saturday, IS fighters staged two suicide bombings targeting "opposition forces" near Marea, IS said via its news agency, Aamaq.

Following the suicide bombings, IS militants entered Marea and fighting began inside the town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition media outfit that tracks Syria's civil war, AP says.

The territorial gains around the rebel strongholds of Marea and Azaz, north of Aleppo city, are a blow to the Turkey and Saudi-backed rebels, who have been struggling to retain a foothold in the region while being squeezed by opponents from all sides. They also demonstrated the Islamic State group's ability to stage major offensives and capture new areas, despite a string of recent losses in Syria and Iraq.

The IS offensive targeting Syrian opposition strongholds near the Turkish border began Thursday night.