ISIS launches surprise assault in push for Aleppo
The Islamic State opened a new Syrian front over the weekend taking its fighters within reach of the Turkish border town of Azaz, after controlling checkpoints in the small town of Sawran. Videos posted on social media associated with ISIS depicted four heads from decapitated bodies tossed into the back of a truck. Azaz controls access to an important Syrian-Turkish border crossing and is a lifeline for rebel forces in the city of Aleppo. Syrian rebel forces have appealed for international assistance to counter the new ISIS offensive, explaining that if Azaz fell it would cut their supply lines and “Automatically the Islamic State would gain control of Aleppo city,” said Abu Mohammed, a leader of the rebel group Thuwar al-Sham based in the Turkish town of Gaziantep. “The situation is dire.”