Syria news-ISIL makes gains against Syrian army in Raqqa province |
Channel: Dennis walker
Date: 2017-09-19

ISIL fighters have killed at least 34 Syrian government troops and seized their vehicles, pushing back the army advancing on Maadan, one of the last ISIL-held towns in Raqqa province.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the early Friday counterattack by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) group also left 12 of its fighters dead.

The development set the government back about 30km to the west of Maadan and allowed ISIL to recapture a number of villages in the areas it lost to advancing Syrian soldiers last month.

ISIL media channels posted images of the attacked Syrian army convoy and bodies of more than a dozen soldiers.