by James Tweedie

ISLAMIC State (Isis) launched a major offensive against the north-east Syrian city of Hassakeh on Tuesday night. The assault may be an attempt to reverse recent advances made by Kurdish militias in Hassakeh province.

Isis was trying to capture the site where a new detention centre for young offenders was being built on Hassakeh’s southern outskirts and had attacked it with five suicide car bombs.

The city had earlier been split between government forces and Kurdish defenders.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the Syrian air force was also taking part in the battle around Hassakeh and Isis gunmen had entered the detention centre building.

Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed on French radio that more than 10,000 Isis guerillas had been killed in air strikes by the US-led military coalition in the last nine months, although he did not explain how that body count had been arrived at.

Speaking after a meeting of the coalition members in Paris, he said that Isis had suffered “a lot of losses” which will “end up having an impact,” while admitting that the militants remained strong.

However, Mr Blinken insisted that the coalition’s much-criticised campaign against Isis had not been a failure.

“There has been important progress, but equally Daesh (Isis) remains very resilient and capable of taking the initiative,” he said.

The US diplomat said Isis now controlled 25 per cent less territory than it did at the start of the campaign.

However, he was forced to admit that the Isis capture of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria had been major setbacks.

Iraqi ambassador to France Fareed Yasseen welcomed the US decision to send 2,000 AT-4 missiles for Baghdad’s forces to use against armoured suicide lorry bombs.

“The French will be giving us similar weapons, ammunition and we are discussing other co-operation projects,” he told reporters.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi urged the coalition on Tuesday to allow his country to obtain weapons from Russia and Iran, both subject to Western sanctions, adding that little material aid had arrived from the US and its allies.