Activists report ISIL gains in Homs province, as Iraq claims coalition strikes have killed group's number two.
The
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has seized more
territory in the central province of Homs amid intense clashes with
government forces, Syrian activists say.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday's fighting killed at least 28 government troops and about 20 fighters from the ISIL. It said hundreds more were wounded.
ISIL has a presence in the eastern countryside of Homs and has been pushing west.
Twitter accounts affiliated with ISIL say its fighters reported advances northwest of the city of Palmyra, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Bebars al-Talawy, an activist based in Homs, said ISIL seized a large government ammunition warehouse outside Palmyra and was bombing a nearby government-controlled airport.
The reports of ISIL's advances could not be independently confirmed.
ISIL has continued to make gains in Syria despite loss of territory in neighbouring Iraq under aerial bombardment by the US-led coalition.
Fighters from the group seized large parts of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus in April.
The advances in Syria came as Iraq's defence ministry said an air strike by the US-led coalition had killed a senior ISIL commander near Mosul.
A ministry statement said the strike killed Abu Alaa al-Afari and others who were in a meeting inside a mosque in the city of Tal Afar.
It described Afari as senior deputy to ISIL's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
While the coalition said it conducted an air strike there in the last 24 hours, American officials said they had no information to corroborate claims Afari had been killed.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday's fighting killed at least 28 government troops and about 20 fighters from the ISIL. It said hundreds more were wounded.
ISIL has a presence in the eastern countryside of Homs and has been pushing west.
Twitter accounts affiliated with ISIL say its fighters reported advances northwest of the city of Palmyra, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Bebars al-Talawy, an activist based in Homs, said ISIL seized a large government ammunition warehouse outside Palmyra and was bombing a nearby government-controlled airport.
The reports of ISIL's advances could not be independently confirmed.
ISIL has continued to make gains in Syria despite loss of territory in neighbouring Iraq under aerial bombardment by the US-led coalition.
Fighters from the group seized large parts of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus in April.
The advances in Syria came as Iraq's defence ministry said an air strike by the US-led coalition had killed a senior ISIL commander near Mosul.
A ministry statement said the strike killed Abu Alaa al-Afari and others who were in a meeting inside a mosque in the city of Tal Afar.
It described Afari as senior deputy to ISIL's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
While the coalition said it conducted an air strike there in the last 24 hours, American officials said they had no information to corroborate claims Afari had been killed.
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Source: AP
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