Marea has always been a bastion for non-jihadist rebel forces who have been fighting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s five-year conflict.
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Beirut/Ankara: Fighting between IS militants and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed dozens of people in the last two days, as IS militants keep up an offensive that has led to rapid territorial gains, a monitoring group said on Saturday.
The fighting added to the civilian exodus, with more heading to Azaz as well as the empty area along the border.
The advances brought the militants to within a few kilometers (miles) of the rebel-held Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported five people were injured on Friday when rockets fired from Islamic State-controlled territory in northern Syria hit the Turkish border province of Kilis, which is about 60 kilometres north of Aleppo.
People are “terrified for their lives”, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement.
More than half of Syria’s pre-war population of about 23 million is said to have been displaced since the militancy campaign began.
An army unit, in cooperation with popular defense groups, also seized a vehicle loaded with ammunition and weapons and belonging to Daesh on the road linking the city of Athriya to militant-held Raqqah, located on the north bank of the Euphrates River and about 160 kilometers (99 miles) east of Aleppo.
Islamic State has been battling rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) since late past year, but clashes have intensified in recent weeks.
Syrian government and allied forces are also fighting rebels north of Aleppo.
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Most of the group’s fighters are originally from Deir Ezzor; a governorate in eastern Syria of which ISIS expelled all rebel groups during an offensive 2 years ago. Turkey has shelled Kurdish positions inside Syria.
