Friday, August 15, 2014

Separate bomb attacks kill 32 in Syria; ISIS continues to advance

(Sky News) At least 22 people have been killed when a car bomb exploded in front of a mosque in Daraa province of southern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Among the dead in Friday's blast in the rebel-controlled town of Namar were a woman and a child, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

In northern Syria, the Observatory reported 10 people killed when regime helicopters dropped explosive-packed barrel bombs on Aleppo city.

The attacks targeted the Bab al-Nairab district of the Old City and the southern Salahin neighbourhood.

North of Aleppo city, the Observatory said jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group extended their advances, seizing Baghaydin village near the border with Turkey.

On Wednesday, IS fighters captured eight villages in the area between Aleppo and the border from rival rebel groups.

Those advances came after clashes that killed at least 40 fighters from rebel groups, as well as 12 IS fighters, according to the Observatory.

The successes open the way for IS to move towards two strategic prizes - Aazaz and Marea.