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Syria: Kurdish fighters move in on stronghold of Islamic State

SYRIAN Kurdish militia advanced on the Islamic State (Isis) stronghold of Raqqa yesterday, capturing a military base and nearby town.

The People’s Protection Units (YPG) took Ein Issa unopposed, hours after they captured the nearby Brigade 93 base from Isis militants on Monday night.

The town is the the last major residential area north of Raqqa, which the Islamic State group considers the capital of its self-declared “caliphate” that spans eastern Syria and western Iraq.

Last week, the YPG cut off the main Isis supply route through Turkey when it captured the northern border town of Tal Abyad.

YPG spokesman Redur Khalil said: “Ein Issa and dozens of villages around it are under our control.”

The group claimed to have killed dozens of Isis militants in the battle for the military base.

The US considers the YPG an ally and has aided it with air strikes on Isis positions.

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