The Islamic State is gaining ground in Aleppo province, where it has now captured 21 Kurdish villages in the north near the Turkish border, in an offensive that began in early July. Kurdish YPG forces defending the area claimed at the time that the IS had used chemical weapons against them. Regime airstrikes targeted IS-held areas of al Bab city in Aleppo, killing at least 15 people. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front continued to shell the Christian town of Maharde in Hama. Al Nusrah, the Islamic Front, Ansar al Din battalion, and rebels clashed with regime forces in Aleppo. An Al Nusrah court in Idlib executed a suspected spy. The head of the Free Syrian Army said it will stand by the US in fighting the “twin threats” of the Assad regime and the Islamic State. Since the US vowed on Sept. 10 to defeat the IS, some 162 fighters have joined its training camps in Aleppo, including 147 Syrians who previously fought for Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front, and four Australians who came through Turkey.
