Syrian Kurdish forces tighten noose around ISIL in Hasakah

Thursday, 16 July 2015 8:32 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 16 July 2015 8:32 PM ]

A fighter from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) watches smoke billowing in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah on June 28, 2015. ©AFP

Syrian Kurdish forces are tightening the noose around militants from the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group after extending their control over a large territory in Syria’s troubled northeastern province of Hasakah.

On Thursday, fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) managed to cut all the roads linking the provincial capital city of Hasakah, located 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of the capital, Damascus, to nearby ISIL strongholds in the province.

"Daesh (ISIL) fighters are besieged inside the city," Kurdish official Mustafa Bali said, adding, "The aim of YPG is to liberate Hasakah."

The YPG, in a statement posted on its Facebook page, said the Kurdish "fighters are now surrounding the mercenaries from all sides in the city." It added that streets on the southern edge of Hasakah are full of bodies of dead ISIL militants, and that many others have been nabbed.

"Our units are advancing and have captured several strategic areas," the YPG Facebook statement also read.

According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Kurdish forces also seized control of a juvenile prison and a power station south of Hasakah.

The terrorist group attacked government-held southern neighborhoods of Hasakah last month and captured several districts. Before ISIL’s attack on the city, Hasakah had been split between government and Kurdish forces.

This file picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syrian army soldiers sitting on an armored vehicle in the mountains surrounding the city of al-Zabadani, Syria.

On Wednesday, Syrian government forces wrested control of Khirbet al-Naqous and Tal Wasit villages near the country’s western city of Hama, located 213 kilometers (132 miles) north of Damascus.

Military sources said scores of militants were killed during the lightning offensive, which saw the Syrian army capture a large swathe of territory in the region.

The conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011, has reportedly claimed more than 230,000 lives.

The violence has also forced over 3.8 million Syrians to take refuge in neighboring countries, while more than 7.2 million others have been displaced within Syria, according to the United Nations.

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