HASAKAH, Syria
At least 11 people died in Syria's northeastern al-Hasakah city when a Syrian regime warcraft bombarded the city center on Wednesday, according to opposition activists.
Regime forces shelled on al-Hasakah's central Goran region and left 11 people dead and several others wounded, Local Coordination Committees of Syria told Anadolu Agency.
Syrian military planes had earlier bombed rural areas of al-Hasakah, but Wednesday's attack marked the first bomb offensive by a military plane on the city center.
Al-Hasakah has recently been home to clashes between Syria-based Kurdish Popular Protection Units, also known as YPG, and fighters led by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group - formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Meanwhile, Syrian Revolution General Commission reported several casualties from armed opposition forces in Aleppo's northeastern Akhtarin town, captured by IS militants earlier in the day.
Following the fall of the opposition-held town to militants, many locals have reportedly abondoned their homes in Turkmen villages of Barih, Aziziyah, Khoz and Masoudiyah.
Beha Abu Jamal, a local activist in Aleppo, has told AA that IS militants have tightened their grip in north of Aleppo and around Hasakah on Wednesday, attacking the regime-held Tabkha military airport in Raqqa city with heavy weapons.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011. Last month, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that more than 133,000 people had been killed in Syrian regime attacks.
The threat from the armed groups spearheaded by the IS has added to the already volatile security situation in the war-ridden country, as they are battling with the opposition groups in the country in a bid to expand the territory of their self-declared caliphate, or "Islamic State."
www.aa.com.tr/en
