ISIS is under siege in N. Syria, can’t send terrorists abroad: Kurdish officer

The commander of Kurdish forces near the Syria-Turkey border, Shervan Darwish, said Sunday that ISIS forces in northern Syria are under siege by Kurdish troops and can no longer send terrorists outside the country. He said Kurdish forces had succeeded in cutting off the main road from Jarablus to Aleppo, which is in ISIS hands. Darwish also claimed that Kurdish troops had imposed a siege on Raqqa, the ISIS capital in Syria.
DEBKAfile military sources: There is much exaggeration in the Kurdish claims. It is true that ISIS forces in northern Syria are under great military pressure due to attacks by Kurdish troops and airstrikes by the US Air Force, but they are still capable of initiating terrorist attacks. In a counterattack on Sunday, ISIS forces captured several villages and military outposts from the Kurds in the northern area. Our sources add that ISIS launched a counterattack on Saturday in the area of Palmyra in eastern Syria in an attempt to capture the Arak oil fields and the T-3 military airport from the Syrian army.