MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, ISIL militants killed at least 154 civilians, most of them women and children, in an attack on Kobani located on the Turkey-Syrian border. Since 2012, the town has been controlled by the YPG.
"This attack shows that the ISIL is disadvantaged right now. Recently, ISIL positions in the north of Syria have considerably weakened, and the jihadist forces have been trying to take vengeance for the defeat in Tel Abyad," Redur Xelil said.
Recently, Islamic State forces have been losing control of the Turkish-Syrian border which they need for further advance. Last week, the Kurdish forces liberated the ethnically Kurdish border city of Tel Abyad in northeastern Syria from the ISIL.
Speaking about recent ISIL’ terror attacks in Syria’s Al-Hasakah, Xelil said YPG forces are partly protecting the area and ready to "give rebuff" in case of a jihadist attack.
Claims that YPG would unite with Syrian government forces in Al-Hasakah to jointly fight against the Islamic State are untrue, Xelil stressed.
Syria has been in the state of civil war since March 2011, with government forces fighting on multiple fronts, against Syria’s opposition aiming to displace incumbent President Assad and different insurgent groups, including the ISIL.
The Islamic State is a Sunni jihadist group that has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed a caliphate. The advance of the jihadist group is being countered by efforts from Iraqi and Syrian government forces, as well as Kurdish forces and a US-led international coalition.
