Mahin is 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of the highway that links the central province to Damascus.
Advertisement
Activists are reporting that rebels in a suburb of the Syrian capital that came under heavy bombings have paraded government loyalists in cages in the streets, using them as human shields against further attacks.
Meanwhile US-backed Syrian rebels announced a fresh offensive against Isis in the northeast province of Hasaka, a day after the Obama administration said it would send special forces in an advisory capacity.
The Observatory said the assault on Mahin began with suicide auto bombs at government checkpoints, clearing the way for fighters to enter the city. Government soldiers were driven out.
The Observatory reported airstrikes on Mahin, following IS control of the town.
An estimated 250 000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict, which started with peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011.
On October 30, the Vienna meeting, attended by regional and global powers, found a few common ground over the solution for the Syrian crisis, but failed to agree over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A hashtag on social media, Cages of Protection, spread to highlight images of the caged prisoners.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Monday that any effort to counter terrorism in Syria without coordination with the Syrian government is a violation to the United Nations charters, according to the state news agency SANA. It blames Saudi Arabia and Turkey of arming them and fuelling terrorism in Syria.
His allies, Russian Federation and Iran, have repeatedly rejected calls by the United States and Saudi Arabia that al-Assad must leave power in order for a peace deal to be secured.
Advertisement
A military source said clashes broke out between regime forces and jihadists around Sadad and lasted two hours before subsiding as the Syrian troops pulled out of the village.
