ALEPPO – The radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) pounded Wednesday the town of Marea in the northern countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria, with heavy weapons, causing the death and injury of several civilians, military sources reported.This led to the outbreak of clashes between the terror group and the rebel fighters of the Levant Front in the area, amid intense airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on ISIS’s positions north of Aleppo.
Speaking to ARA News in Aleppo, Saleh Zein, a spokesman for the Levant Front, confirmed that ISIS militants have targeted the town of Marea with homemade rockets and mortar shells, causing the death of at three civilians and the injury of eight others.
“ISIS terrorists carried out a large-scale operation aimed at infiltrating into the heart of the town,” Zein said, pointing out “But, our fighters were able to repel the enemy’s attack, forcing it to withdraw after receiving painful blows.”
The hardline group, which was inflicted with heavy losses, withdrew to its bases in the areas of Telalain and Herbel.
In the meantime, warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition conducted several airstrikes on ISIS’s positions in the towns of Oum Housh and Qirat Mazraa in the northern countryside of Aleppo, causing direct losses in its ranks, Zein told ARA News.
“After targeting a tactical unit for Daesh, the raids led to the death of five insurgents and the destruction of a number of armored-vehicles,” he concluded, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Over the past year and a half, ISIS extremists have been trying to storm the besieged town of Marea, but they are faced with fierce resistance from Syrian rebels despite the group’s use of toxic gases and car bomb attacks.
Noteworthy, Turkey has officially started with the initial steps of establishing a safe zone in northern Syria, after intensifying its military support to the Turkmen rebel group of Sultan Murad under the pretext of combatting ISIS on the outskirts of Jarablus, Marea and Azaz.