Islamic State drives Syrian rebels from nearby Turkish border
On Friday, Islamic State fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border, as they inch ever closer to a town on a supply route for foreign-backed insurgents fighting the jihadists. The United States has identified the area north of Syria's former commercial hub Aleppo as a priority in the fight against the Islamic State movement.
In April, Islamic State militants seized another strategic town near the Turkish border from rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.
Aleppo's northern countryside is the theater of several separate battles between multiple warring sides in the five-year Syrian conflict, which has drawn in military involvement of regional and world powers that back different groups.
