Islamic State launches major Syrian offensive as Iraqi troops move into Tikrit

The Islamic State jihadist group launched a major offensive Wednesday to try to capture a strategic town on the Syrian-Turkish border, leaving dozens dead in clashes. “Fighters from the Islamic State group started a huge assault towards Ras al-Ain and were able to take over a village nearby,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The offensive is a preemptive strike against Kurdish militia who were planning an attack on the IS-held town of Tal Abyad farther west along the border, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

This is a big hit to the morale of Kurdish fighters.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head, Rami Abdel Rahman

Meanwhile in Iraq, government forces entered a district of Tikrit, stepping up an offensive launched 10 days ago to wrest the northern city back from jihadists, army officers said. Iraqi forces have been closing in for days but had largely refrained from entering the city, launching only small-scale operations on the edges of Tikrit and laying siege to it. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group hit back with coordinated bomb attacks on government-held areas of the western city of Ramadi, killing at least 10 people. Despite the car bombs, officials said IS failed to gain any ground.

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