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On Wednesday, militants from the extremist group Islamic State (IS) captured several villages in northern Syria, killing 52 people in the process, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The extremists captured eight villages between Aleppo and the Turkish border, bolstered by their success in Iraq, the observatory said.
They killed 40 fighters from other rebel groups and capture 50 more to compensate for the loss of 12 of their own, the observatory added.
IS now controls most of the territory in Euphrates valley provinces Deir Ezzor and Raqa. It has been gaining territory west of the provinces by combating other rebel groups in the region. Most of their rival rebels have been weakened due to the defection of the Al-Nusra Front last month.
The Britain-based Observatory also said that the gain of the villages was a good strategic victory for the IS as it will open up the towns of Azaz and Marea for attack. Marea is the stronghold of the Islamic Front, an affiliation of groups who are fighting the IS. Azaz lies next to the Turkish border, and would be considered a valuable asset to the IS as it looks to expand its self-declared “caliphate” in the territory it currently occupies in Iraq and Syria.
The IS emerged from the Al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq and for a while fought alongside the Syrian opposition, the Al-Nusra Front and moderate rebel groups. However, its abuses against rival fighters and civilians and its bid to gain more territory sparked a backlash against the militant group.
It was pushed out of territory it has held in the province of Aleppo in January by a coalition of moderate rebels. Since then, it has recaptured some of the ground it had lost with the help of the Suqour al-Sham Brigade.