by Our Foreign Desk

ISLAMIC STATE (Isis) launched two offensives yesterday against the Syrian army and Kurdish militias.

In an apparent attempt to reverse recent setbacks, Isis attacked the northern cities of Hassakeh and Kobane, killing dozens of people.

In north-eastern Hassakeh, split between the army and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Isis attacked government-held neighbourhoods, capturing some areas.

Isis guerillas killed several people captured in the Nashawi neighbourhood, including the head of a military housing institution, but sustained many casualties, including their foreign commander.

Isis had tried to storm the city earlier this month, reaching its southern outskirts before being pushed back by strong resistance from soldiers.

At Kobane, on the Turkish border, Isis militants reportedly donned Syrian rebel uniforms and carried flags of the Free Syrian Army, which like the YPG is supported by Western powers, to deceive the Kurdish city’s defenders.

The attackers set off three car bombs and killed 12 civilians and Kurdish militia.

Ghalia Nehme, a commander with the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units, said: “We are defending a position now.”

Another Kurdish official in Kobani, Idriss Naasan, said the fighting was intense in the morning but became more sporadic by noon.

The attacks come after the YPG captured the Isis stronghold of Tal Abyad on the border with Turkey and the town of Ein Issa to the south.