YPG kills 35 IS insurgents in northern Syria

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – The Syrian Kurdish forces of People’s Protection Units (YPG) announced on Monday that they killed dozens of Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Raqqa, Syria.

A Kurdistan24 correspondent embedded with the YPG reported that heavy clashes erupted on Sunday between the Kurdish-held town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, and Tishrin Dam.

A YPG fighter who spoke to Kurdistan24 on condition of anonymity revealed that the ongoing clashes resulted in the death of about 30 IS insurgents so far.

Additionally, the YPG Press Office said in a statement issued on Monday that their forces killed 35 extremists and captured two.

“The clashes broke out in the villages of Kordeshan and Qadiriya in the area between Ain Issa and Tishrin Dam when our forces [the YPG] blew up a car bomb sent by the [IS] terrorists,” the statement said.

The YPG statement mentioned the confiscation of weapons and armored vehicles from IS.

“Our forces blew up a car bomb, an armored vehicle, and seized 17 Kalashnikovs, 42 Klashnikov rifle magazines, an RPG with six shells, two PKC machine guns, five bullet boxes, two wireless devices, [and many other tools],” the report read.

The statement also said that IS launched several attacks this week on the villages and towns in the southern rural areas of the Kurdish-held town of Kobani on the Turkish borders.

Last week, groups of IS insurgents infiltrated the village of Saykul in Kobani and slaughtered dozens of civilians.

The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pushed the militants from Saykul village and repelled many other attacks around Tishrin Dam.

The group, founded in October 2015, contains Arab, Turkmen, and Armenian troops, as well as Free Syrian Army (FSA) units.

The SDF had already launched three operations in the previous two months.

The first one began in the northern countryside of Raqqa on May 24, the second on May 30 towards the IS-held area of Tabqa, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Raqqa. Finally, the third one on May 31 on the northern IS-held Syrian town of Manbij.

Although mainstream media presents SDF as an inclusive force, the YPG is the primary element of the coalition and outnumbers all other groups.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany