Kobani, Syria (Photo : news.yahoo.com)
Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units and the Peshmerga have entered Raqqa province, the seat of power of the Islamic State, and are threatening the Isis capital of Raqqa.
This is the first time the Kurds have entered Raqqa province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as reported by Reuters. Kurdish forces retook the first village near Tel Abyad after forcing Isis fighters out of the village.
"The Kurdish forces in cooperation with the Syrian opposition forces (FSA) took over an IS-held hilltop (in reference to a hill overlooking the village of Baghdik) in Raqqa after bloody clashes", said the Observatory.
Kurdish forces drove Isis fighters from Kobani last month and forced them back from the villages around the northern part of Syria. The Islamic State still holds land in the northern part and eastern side of Syria and into Iraq, however.
Rami Abdulrahman, the Observatory's founder, said it's the Kurdish forces' first time to reach the province of Raqqa. He added that four members of the Kurdish forces and around 35 Islamic State fighters died in a battle near Kobani on Feb. 15. It is the heaviest battle since the Kurdish forces took back the town.
Kurdish forces regained control of 163 villages in the Kobani area in only three weeks since they forced Isis fighters out of the town. There was no details on casualties inflicted by U.S. air strikes against Isis in the region on Feb. 15, according to Yahoo! News.
The Shams al-Shamal brigade and the Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade joined the Kurdish forces in their battle against Isis.
