Kurdish forces push toward ISIS-controlled areas in Syrian Kurdistan

QAMISHLI, Syria - Kurdish fighters in Syria have pushed back militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) around the townships of Sluk and Gire Spi, recapturing several villages around the two Kurdish areas, military sources told Rudaw on Friday.

They said that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) made a rapid advance toward Sluk, controlling all routes in and out to the beleaguered town in Syria’s Kurdistan, also known as Rojava.

“If our fighters recapture Sluk it will be easier to continue toward Gire Spi, which is of particular importance to us,” one YPG military source told Rudaw on condition of anonymity. 

The source said Gire Spi had lately become a hub for ISIS activity in the region because of its strategic location.  The two townships are located less than 20 kilometers apart.

If they are recaptured by the YPG, the townships would extend the Kurdish-administrated area in Syria, connecting Kobane canton in the north with Cizire in the northeast.

Kurdish forces declared autonomy in the three cantons of Afrin, Cizire and Kobane in Rojava after government forces withdrew from the area in the wake of a civil war now in its fifth year.