Kurds seize town near ISIS 'capital'

Kurdish-led forces in Syria seized a town from Islamic State yesterday after capturing a military base overnight, aided by US-led air strikes in some of the most dramatic gains yet against the militants.

The Kurdish march deep into the heart of Islamic State territory follows their capture of a town on the Turkish border last week, halting the momentum of militants who had seized major towns in both Syria and Iraq last month.

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The Kurdish YPG-led forces had taken full control of Ain Issa, said Redur Xelil, a spokesman for the group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on the war, said Islamic State fighters had completely withdrawn from the town.

Overnight, the advancing forces took control of the nearby Liwa-93 military base, a strategic objective which Islamic State had captured last year from government forces.

The advance to Ain Issa brings the Kurdish forces and smaller Syrian rebel groups fighting alongside them to just 50 km (30 miles) from Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital, from which it rules over a "caliphate" across much of Syria and Iraq. Xelil said an assault on the city was not currently on the agenda.

The YPG fighters have emerged as the most credible ally of the US-led campaign on the ground in Syria, where Washington has fewer friends than in Iraq. Xelil described the US-led air support as "excellent".

In a separate battle, the Syrian military and militias fighting alongside it have gained ground to the northwest of the city of Palmyra, which Islamic State captured from government control last month, according to the Observatory and a source in Syria briefed on the situation.

The YPG advance gathered pace last week when the Kurds, in partnership with smaller rebel groups under the banner of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, captured Tel Abyad at the border, cutting an Islamic State supply route from Turkey.