Syrian Kurdish fighters regain control of Tal Abyad from IS

Syrian Kurdish forces regained full control of Tal Abyad on Wednesday, successfully expelling Islamic State (IS) group fighters who had seized a district of the strategic border town a day before, a human rights monitor said.

Syrian Kurdish forces regained full control of Tal Abyad on Wednesday, successfully expelling Islamic State (IS) group fighters who had seized a district of the strategic border town a day before, a human rights monitor said.

"Kurdish fighters expelled IS from the Mashur al-Fawqani district that they had captured yesterday (Tuesday)," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said at least three fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and four IS jihadists were killed in clashes on Wednesday.

YPG spokesperson Redur Khalil confirmed that the town had been secured.

"The Daesh group that entered the Mashur al-Fawqani district... was eliminated completely and expelled from the area," he told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
He said three IS fighters had been killed in the fighting, and a fourth died detonating an explosive belt.

Tal Abyad, on the border with Turkey, was formerly an IS stronghold, which served as a key conduit for the group to bring in weapons and fighters, and export black market oil.

IS forces launched a surprise attack in the town on Tuesday, overrunning the Mashur al-Fawqani district in heavy fighting.

But by late Wednesday morning, the town was back under full Kurdish control, the observatory said.