Reuters, Beirut, 1 January 2016 – A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Sunni Arab fighters advanced against Islamist insurgents in the north of the country on Friday, capturing at least one village in Aleppo province, a spokesman and a monitoring group said.
Fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria seized the village of Tanab near the town of Azaz, spokesman Talal Selo told Reuters.

“We liberated Tanab,” he said.

Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Democratic Forces of Syria had also captured the village of Tat Mrash. Selo said he could not yet confirm its capture.

It came just days after the alliance seized a dam from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) further east, cutting one of its main supply routes across the Euphrates.

Since the U.S.-backed alliance was formed last October, its fighters have opened several major offensives against ISIS with the ultimate goal of capturing Raqqa.

The Democratic Forces of Syria includes the Kurdish YPG militia, which has been the most effective partner on the ground for U.S.-led air strikes.

Washington’s strategy in Syria shifted in 2015 from trying to train thousands of fighters outside the country to supplying groups headed by U.S.-vetted commanders.

The U.S. military estimates the Democratic Forces of Syria has captured around 1,000 square kilometers of terrain in the past six weeks or so, bolstered by coalition air strikes.