The Islamic State group has captured an important town in northern Syria, cutting supply lines for government forces between the northern city of Aleppo and central and western Syria. The Islamic State has now managed to capture the town of Khnaser in its entirety, whereas in the past “IS would take a couple of small areas [along the road] that the regime quickly recaptured”, Ahmed A-Ruwaished, a citizen journalist in the southern Aleppo countryside, told Syria Direct Wednesday.
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“Jihadists from the Caucasus and from (China’s mainly Muslim region of) Xinjiang, as well as the jihadist group Jund al-Aqsa, cut the route from the south after a surprise attack”, said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
State news agency SANA hailed its recapture just two days after its fall to the jihadists.
The Syrian government, backed by Russian air strikes since September, said it would coordinate with Russia to define which groups and areas would be included in what it called a “halt to combat operations”.
This is the second time in four months ISIS has cut the road. Rebels severed it in 2013 and IS also did so previous year before being pushed back. The road is crucial as it is the only way regime forces and civilians could travel outside of Aleppo’s government-controlled neighborhoods to surrounding neighborhoods.
That offensive is supposed to come to an end when a Russian and US-brokered ceasefire goes into effect at 2200 GMT on Friday.
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Turkish artillery shelled YPG-held territory in Aleppo province throughout Wednesday night, the Observatory said, without immediately reporting any casualties.
