Syrian army battles ISIS in northeast Syria – activists
Syrian troops and militia fought fierce battles with ISIS fighters in Syria's northeast overnight, war monitors and state media said Wednesday, as both sides vie for control of territory near the Iraqi frontier, Reuters reports.
Some of the biggest battles took place near a prison just south of Hassakeh city after ISIS set off a bomb close by, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
State television also reported the clashes, saying they were fought around the prison under construction. ISIS fighters had been trying to break into the unfinished building after setting off five car bombs, it said in a newsflash.
The surrounding Hassakeh province, the country's northeastern triangle bordering on Turkey and Iraq, is a strategic area because it links up ISIS-held land in Syria and Iraq.