PHOTO: Regime troops celebrate victory over the Islamic State at the Hasakah Power Plant in northeast Syria

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Regime Bombing Kills 60+ in Idlib Province — Rebels Promise Retaliation Near Aleppo

Even as some Western media outlets were proclaiming its strength and expansion, the Islamic State was suffering a bad weekend in Syria.

The militants had won a headline victory last month with the capture of the historic city of Palmyra from regime forces. However, on other fronts, the fate of its offensives was uncertain, and in some areas it was being pushed back.

The last 72 hours have compounded those problems:

1. In northern Syria, Kurds and the Free Syrian Army are threatening to expel the Islamic State from the area near the Turkish border, including the town of Tel Abyad and the nearby border crossing.

Over the weekend, the Kurd-FSA force closed the gap between Kurdish cantons of Kobane and Cezire from both the west and the east, taking a series of villages and closing on Tel Abyad.

Kurds moving into a village:

2. In Hasakah in northeastern Syria, the Islamic State’s two-week offensive was finally repelled by Assad forces, fighting with Kurdish and Assyrian militia. The Syrian military not only secured the city but also reclaimed surrounding areas, including the power plant, a prison, and two villages.

3. In northern Aleppo Province, the militants failed to gain any ground in their two-week assault on rebels on a 25-km (16-mile) front. Having claimed the town of Sawran at the outset of the offensive, the Islamic State is now at risk of losing it.

The rebels have been able to check the militants without diverting from their campaign against the Assad regime. Instead, the Jaish al-Fatah coalition advanced rapidly across the Idlib-Hama corridor in northwest Syria, driving the Syrian military into a chaotic retreat to Frikka, the last important town held by Assad forces in Idlib Province.

See Syria Daily, June 7: Can Assad Make a Last Stand in Idlib Province?

Having been expelled from parts of southern Syria in the past month, the Islamic State units failed in a counter-attack on Lajat in Daraa Province in the southeast.

4. For the first time in its nine-month intervention, the US-led coalition carried out an airstrike on the Islamic State near rebel frontlines. Unconfirmed claims said American bombing killed eight militants and injured 20.

The US also continued its support of Kurdish forces, hitting the Islamic State near Kobane with five attacks. It carried out four raids on the Islamic State’s center of Raqqa. And — in an assault which, wittingly or unwittingly, may have assisted Assad forces — there were two strikes “near Hasakah”.

Rebel Leader Dismisses US Bombing of Islamic State: “They Seek Divisions Among Us”

Abu Issa, a leader in the Islamic Front rebel bloc and Deputy Commander for Political Affairs of the Ahrar al-Sham faction, has dismissed the reported US bombing of an Islamic State position near rebel front lines in northern Aleppo Province.

Abu Issa said on Twitter, “The coalition bombs Daesh [Islamic State] because they seek fitna [divisions among rebels].”

He added, “We will not depend on everyone to fight Daesh. We will break them with our hands.”

On Saturday, a media activist said he had heard of a US airstrike on the Islamic State near the town of Sawran, where the militants have been pursuing a two-week offensive against rebels. Unconfirmed claims followed from a British-based “monitoring group” that eight Islamic State fighters had been killed and 20 wounded.

The attack would be the first that the coalition has carried out in nine months near rebel frontlines. However, a spokesman for the rebel coalition said he has no confirmation of the US attack on Sawran.

The US-led coalition has carried out hundreds of raids on the Islamic State in Kurdish areas of Syria.

Retaliating for Assad Bombs on Idlib, Rebels Hit Regime Enclaves North of Aleppo

Responding to bombing which has reportedly killed scores of people in Idlib Province on Monday, the Jaish al-Fatah coalition has begun attacks on the regime enclaves of Nubl and Zahraa, north of Aleppo city.

See Syria Feature: Regime Bombing Kills 60+ in Idlib Province — Rebels Promise Retaliation Near Aleppo

Syrian Military Pulling Out of Last Important Position in Idlib Province?

A media activist with a rebel faction claims a signal that the Syrian military may be pulling out of its last significant position in Idlib Province:

Syrian forces fell back to Frikka, on the M4 highway from Aleppo to Latakia on the Mediterranean, as they abandoned villages and military camps to the east in the face of a rebel offensive on Thursday and Friday.

See Syria Daily, June 6: Rebels Advance Rapidly Across Idlib and Hama Provinces

There is a large concentration of Assad forces at Jourin, in eastern Latakia Province. Syrian and Iranian commanders — including General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the elite Qods Force — reportedly conferred there about the response to rebel advances across Idlib Province and the Idlib-Hama corridor leading to Frikka.

Regime Continues Barrel-Bombing Across Idlib and Aleppo Provinces

Syrian warplanes are continuing their attacks on rebel areas near the frontline of an Islamic State offensive in northern Aleppo Province:

The Syrian air force stepped up attacks on towns like Mare’ and Tel Rifaat last week, killing more than 100 people in the area and leading many to conclude that President Assad was giving support to the Islamic State ground assault.

See Syria Daily, June 4: Another 100 Killed Amid Regime Bombing
Syria Daily, June 2: Assad’s Bombs Aid Islamic State Offensive in Aleppo Province

Attacks are also widespread throughout Idlib Province, reportedly killing at least 60 people.

See Syria Feature: Regime Bombing Kills 60+ in Idlib Province — Rebels Promise Retaliation Near Aleppo