ISIL 'CONTROLS HALF' OF SYRIA'S LAND AREA

Analysts say the group now controls nearly 300,000 square kilometres in Iraq and Syria, an area in the size of Italy (Photo: Al Jazeera)

Damascus, 15 Sya’ban 1436/2 June 2015 (MINA) – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has seized territory from both Syrian government forces and rival rebels over the weekend, further expanding the area it has proclaimed straddling Iraq and Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Britain-based monitoring group with sources inside the country, said that following gains in both Homs province in the centre of the country and Aleppo province in the north, ISIL now controlled half of the country’s land area, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Geographer and analyst Fabrice Balanche said that across Iraq and Syria, the group now controlled nearly 300,000 square kilometres, an area in the size of Italy, according to the AFP news agency.

In Aleppo province – on Syria’s border with Turkey – ISIL has expanded its control at the expense of rival rebel groups, the group said.

ISIL captured the village of Suran on Sunday, taking them to within 10 kilometres of the border, the Observatory said.

Three days of heavy fighting left 30 ISIL fighters and 45 rival rebels dead, the watchdog added.

On Monday, the group advanced towards the town of Marea, which lies on a key supply route from Turkey for its rebel opponents.

ISIL previously targeted Marea in April, detonating two car bombs and killing 15 rebel fighters, but it was unable to take the town. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)