Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) June 9, 2016 – Syrian rebels reopened a vital supply line by capturing two villages Wednesday from the Islamic State jihadist group as it came under pressure on a range of fronts in Syria and Iraq.
IS has controlled large areas of both countries since declaring its self-styled “caliphate” in 2014 but is losing territory in the face of separate assaults.
The Damascus regime has kept up its assaults on opposition areas, particularly in second city Aleppo, where at least 15 civilians were killed on Wednesday in bombing by pro-government forces.
North of the city, rebel fighters re-opened a key supply route linking their two main bastions in Aleppo province: Marea and Azaz.
In late May, IS captured several villages between the two towns, cutting off access to the Turkish border for Marea’s opposition forces.
But early Wednesday, rebels launched simultaneous attacks from both Marea and Azaz, squeezing IS jihadists out of the villages of Kafr Kalbin and Kaljibrin and reopening the road, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman said IS fighters even pulled back from towns and villages east of the supply route, including Dudyan near the border.
In Aleppo, barrel bombs dropped from government helicopters killed 10 people near Al-Bayan hospital in Shaar neighbourhood, said the Observatory.
“We have three operation rooms and all the equipment inside them was damaged because of the force of the explosion from the barrel bomb,” Dr Marwan al-Radwan told AFP.

– ‘Life’ back in Marea –

A Syrian boy who fled the assault against Islamic State (IS) fighters in the town of Manbij,

An AFP photographer saw bodies wrapped in bloodied white bags outside the hospital, while inside, the force of the blast had knocked supplies and parts of drywall onto the floor.
Al-Bayan hospital said a staff member was wounded in the bombardment and the building had been evacuated.
The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said two other medical facilities were also hit, Al-Hakim hospital and Abdulhadi Fares clinic, like Al-Bayan in the rebel-held eastern part of the city.
“Al-Hakim hospital, a UNICEF supported facility, is one of the few that still provide paediatric services,” it said.
The Observatory said five other civilians — including two children — were killed in attacks on the Al-Marja and Al-Maadi districts.

A man sits on the rubble of a destroyed building following reported air strikes by Syrian government 

It later reported seven rebel fighters killed in bombardment of Aleppo’s eastern Al-Sakhur neighbourhood.
“I was expecting the regime to respect this holy month (of Ramadan) and to hold off on shelling,” said Abu Mohammad, 65.
“We’re afraid to go out into the streets in the morning or at night when we break our fast.”
IS forces had long coveted Marea and battered the town for over a year with deadly car bombs and suicide attacks.
Its advance last month forced thousands to flee Marea and sparked fears the rebels would lose one of their last major northern hubs to the jihadists.

Map showing offensives against IS group near the Syrian cities of Raqa and Aleppo

“Life is gradually returning to Marea,” journalist Mamoun Khateeb told AFP from the flashpoint town.
Khateeb himself was in Azaz when the IS offensive began and was only able to return to his hometown of Marea on Wednesday.
“After the road was re-opened, some people have come back and we’ve even seen trucks selling vegetables enter the town,” he said.
Those who had fled to nearby villages were too afraid to return to Marea because of landmines left behind by IS as its fighters withdrew.