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Kurdish fighters expanded their offensive Tuesday after driving ISIS militants from the Syrian border town of Ain al-Arab the previous day, to retake dozens of surrounding villages still held by the militants, activists and officials said, The Daily Star reported, citing news agencies.

Pushing ISIS out of Kobani after a bloody, four-month campaign was a significant boost for both the Kurds and the U.S.-led coalition, though the U.S. Central Command tempered Monday’s victory by saying it estimated that 90 percent of Ain al-Arab, known widely by its Kurdish name Kobani was now controlled by Kurdish forces.

From Ain al-Arab, Kurdish troops took the fight Tuesday to the village of Shiran, southeast of the town, said Mustafa Bali, an activist based in the area. Earlier in the day, they captured the nearby village of Qarah Hlanj. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the capture of Qarah Hlanj and said the fighting near Shiran has intensified.

The victory came at a high cost.

“The city has been fully liberated,” said senior Kurdish official Idriss Nassan, speaking by telephone from inside the town. He said Ain al-Arab was “nearly destroyed.”

Television footage showed entire blocks leveled by bombardment, tangled steel and chunks of cement sprawled along muddy streets. Roads were littered with unexploded ordnance and mortar casings.