The Observatory also had no comment about numbers or weapons, but said at least 26 Islamic States militants had been killed along with nine from the Syrian and allied forces.
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Iraqi forces attempted to storm Falluja in central Iraq and a Syrian militia advanced with United States support towards Manbij in the north near the Turkish border.
The front line is around 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the city of Raqqa.
Syrian families, who fled the assault launched by Arab and Kurdish forces against Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the town of Manbij, arrive at an encampment on the outskirts of the town, 20km away from the center, on June 4, 2016. “This is our fight, once Raqqa is liberated it will be run by its own people not by a regime that has killed thousands of innocent civilians”, the SDF official told ARA News.
A spokesman for USA -backed forces said on Monday IS militants had been fleeing Manbij with their families as the Syria Democratic Forces advanced to within 6 km (4 miles) in an attack that has killed more than 150 jihadists. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said the strikes killed at least 13 people.
IS fighters are also engaged in fierce battles for the rebel-held stronghold of Marea, a town some 70 kilometers west of Manbij. Iraqi forces launched their offensive on the city nearly two weeks ago, and say they have reached the edge of town.
On the city’s northern edge, Iraq’s military issued a statement announcing that IS had been pushed out of the neighbourhood of Saqlawiya on Saturday.
Only 40 km separate the army from the targeted areas, said the watchdog group.
Since starting with a 2011 crackdown on anti-government protests, Syria’s conflict has evolved into a complex, multi-front civil war that has left more than 280,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.
The city has been the scene of fierce fighting, even during a truce brokered by the U.S. and Russian Federation that went into effect in late February and collapsed weeks later.
The twin offensive on IS-strongholds in Syria coincides with a military operation in neighboring Iraq on Fallujah, one of the most important cities still held by the militant group.
The Observatory and pro-Damascus Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar said last week the government forces were targeting the Daesh-held town of Tabqa in Raqqa province.
A top Syrian Kurdish commander died Sunday, several days after sustaining injuries during a US -backed campaign to unseat the Islamic State group from its de-facto Syrian capital, Raqqa.
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At least 35 Syrian army soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded on Sunday during clashes with Islamic State’s (ISIS) fighters near the administrative border of Raqqa province, northeastern Syria, activists reported.
