U.S.-led jets strike IS positions in northeast Syria: monitorMarch 14, 2015 - 15:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S.-led jets have struck Islamic State positions in northeast Syria in an area where the militants have been battling Kurdish forces, a group monitoring the war said on Saturday, March 14, according to Reuters. The air strikes hit areas close to the town of Tal Tamer, south of the Turkish border, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It was the first time the U.S.-led coalition hit the area since last month, the Observatory's founder Rami Abdulrahman said, citing sources on the ground. The Kurdish YPG militia, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, had made significant gains in recent weeks against Islamic State in northern Syria, cutting an important supply route from territory controlled by the militant group in Iraq. But Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in areas it controls, appeared to try to seize back the initiative on Tuesday, attacking Kurdish fighters using tanks and heavy weapons close to the Turkish border. The YPG has emerged as the main partner for the U.S.-led alliance fighting Islamic State on the ground in Syria. Backed by Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters and air strikes, the YPG defeated Islamic State in the border town of Kobani in January. The battle for Kobani was the first publicly-declared example of U.S.-led forces closely coordinating militarily with a ground force to battle Islamic State. The United States says it wants to train and equip non-jihadist groups to fight the group elsewhere in Syria and the training was due to get underway in Jordan this month. It is not clear which rebel fighters it plans to train. Photo: ABC News Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |