ISIL redeploys fighters from Aleppo to battle Kurds near Turkey

Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Islamic State of Iraq and Levant has been redeploying fighters for the war in northern Syria.

Opposition sources said ISIL has withdrawn hundreds of fighters from strongholds to battle Kurdish militias along the Syrian border with Turkey. They said the pullout was seen around such cities as Aleppo and Damascus.

“The front has expanded,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdul Rahman said.

Syrian Observatory and opposition sources said ISIL has withdrawn hundreds of fighters from Aleppo, under siege by the Syrian Army since 2013. They said ISIL was moving troops from Aleppo city and surrounding villages for the battle against Kurdish militias near Kobane along the Turkish border.

ISIL was said to have evacuated entire villages and moved supply facilities north. But the sources said ISIL rivals have not yet entered the villages.

The sources said ISIL has been under pressure by U.S.-led air strikes, particularly around Kobane. The combat operations, said to have killed up to 1,000 ISIL fighters, have helped Kurds regain Kobane and battle for nearby villages.

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