ISIS militants seize more Kurdish villages in northern Syria

Islamic State (ISIS) militants seized control of 40 Kurdish villages around the town of Kubani in northern Syria on Friday, raising the number of Kurdish villages controlled by ISIS to 60 within 48 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

According to the director of the SOHR, Rami Abdelrahman, as cited by AFP the Kurdish fighters withdrew from the 60 villages “because the balance of power is not in their favour”.

He added, “The fate of the 800 residents of these villages is still unknown.”

Turkey had to open its borders on Friday to thousands of Syrian Kurds who were forced to flee from the violent battles between ISIS and Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.