Syrian Kurds reclaim key town from Islamic State

A Syrian Kurdish militia has recaptured a town that had been stormed by Islamic State fighters earlier this week, just to the north of the jihadist group’s base of operations in Raqqa city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Islamic State fighters had stormed the town of Ain Issa on Monday, part of a wider attack by the jihadist group on areas held by the Kurdish YPG militia. Ain Issa is 50km north of Raqqa city.

The latest advance by the YPG on Wednesday comes amid to-and-fro battles with Islamic State fighters across northern Syria, who have also been clashing with the Syrian military around Hasaka city further east.

A drone strike as part of a US-led air campaign against Islamic State killed a senior figure from the group in Raqqa city overnight, the Observatory said earlier on Wednesday. The strike killed an Uzbek leader of the group involved in security as he sat in a car outside a downtown hotel.

Islamic State has attracted foreign fighters from across the world to fight in its self-declared caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq. It has named Raqqa its de-facto capital.

The United States says it has intensified an aerial campaign against Islamic State in Syria with a wave of strikes in and around Raqqa city.

Senior US officials have urged Turkey to do more to stop jihadists crossing its border with Syria, and the two NATO allies appear divided on the role of Kurdish militias in fighting Islamic State.

Retired General John Allen, appointed by US president Barack Obama to build a coalition against Islamic State, held talks in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday with his Turkish counterparts on joint efforts to fight the Islamist militants.

Turkey has been a reluctant partner in the coalition, arguing that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also needs to be forced from power and fearing territorial gains by Kurdish militias will fuel separatist sentiment among its own Kurds.

Turkey has watched with concern as Syrian Kurdish PYD forces, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, have pushed back Islamic State militants from Syrian towns near the Turkish border.

“Turkey has certain conditions and is discussing them with the United States . . . It’s important for our allies to understand Turkey’s sensitivities,” said Ahmet Berat Conkar, head of parliament’s foreign affairs commission.

The Syrian president signed a law ratifying a $1 billion credit line from top regional ally Iran, Syria’s state news agency SANA said on Wednesday, funds which will help ease economic strains from the costly war.

The agreement was between two state-owned banks, the Syrian Commercial Bank and Export Development Bank of Iran, it said. Syria signed a previous $3.6 billion credit line with Iran in July 2013 which has been used up mostly for oil imports, bankers have said.

The new deal was signed on May 19th and approved by the Syrian parliament on Tuesday, SANA said. The money would be used for funding imports of goods and commodities and implementing projects, it said, without giving details.

Tehran’s financial aid has been seen as pivotal to the Syrian government and the economy, which has shrunk by more than a half in the four years since the conflict erupted, researchers say.