Islamic State takes new ground near Turkish border

Islamic State takes new ground near Turkish border

Intense attacks began overnight and on Thursday morning IS fighters had mostly encircled the rebel-held town of Marea, some 20 km (12 miles) from the Turkish border, a rebel leader fighting against the group in the area said. 

Another insurgent commander battling Islamic State said his men were fighting back in earnest to stop the jihadists from taking Marea, in clashes that had killed at least two dozen fighters on each side. 

IS used "toxic gases" while shelling the town, he said. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres recently said it had treated a family from Marea suffering symptoms of exposure to chemical agents. 

The assault on Marea could prove disastrous for rebels fighting Islamic State, which has overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria over the past year. 

"If its progress continues, the northern countryside of Aleppo could fall," one rebel told Reuters. 

"If Marea falls, it means the fall of an important symbol of the groups fighting Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group tracking the war, said IS had wrested control of five villages from other insurgents, including two near the Turkish border. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters on Monday his country and the United States would soon launch "comprehensive" air operations to flush IS fighters from the border region.