ISIS: Kurdish Forces Retake 23 Farms, Villages from Jihadists in North-East Syria

Syrian Kurdish forces have taken back some areas from the Islamic State fighters after launching two separate attacks on ISIS stronghold regions in north-east Syria.

An organisation tracking the war said the assault took place near the Iraqi border in northeastern Syria where the US-baked Kurdish YPG advanced to within 5km of Tel Hamis, an ISIS-controlled town located some 35 kms south-east of the city of Qamishli.

"Twenty-three farms and villages, big and small, have been liberated," Kurdish official Nasir Haj Monsour told Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that Sunday's attack killed at least 12 ISIS fighters.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia has emerged as the deadliest enemy of the dreaded Islamic State militants in Syria, especially after the group flushed out the jihadists from the town of Kobani last month with the help of the US-led airstrikes.

The YPG decided to carry out the attack after ISIS reinforced its position in the area with foreign fighters. Sunday's attack is the latest example of coordination between the US-led coalition and the Kurdish militants in the fight against the jihadist group.

The report comes close on the heels of the Sunni militants releasing a video in which 21 men – thought to be members of the Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers – were shown standing inside cages. The men, dressed in orange jumpsuits, were apparently placed on the back of pickup trucks and driven around the IS-controlled city of Hawija, 50 km away from Kirkut in Iraq, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Kurdish fighters launched heavy shelling on the other side of the frontiers in the area and took two villages from the jihadist group at the Iraqi border, the Observatory said adding the shelling killed eight people including five children.