Kurdish fighters seize terror base

A predominantly Kurdish militia force in Syria has captured a ma j o r stronghold from the Islamic State group in the country’s north east, according to activists and officials.

Syria Democratic Forces fighters captured the town of Shaddadeh after sunset on Friday, said spokesman Talal Sillo. The Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the town fell to SDF forces under the cover of air strikes by the US-led coalition.

SDF has become one of the most effective forces fighting IS and the capture of Shaddadeh boosts the group’s image as a faction fighting the extremists.

Mr Sillo said: “We have fully liberated Shaddadeh,” adding that the next step is to remove booby traps and explosives left behind by extremists.

Earlier, in a setback to international efforts to resolve Syria’s devastating civil war, it was indicated that peace talks will not resume next week. UN spe- cial envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said the talks will not resume in Geneva on Thursday as he had previously hoped.

He said that he cannot “realistically” get the parties in the conflict back to the table by then, “but we intend to do so soon”.

Meanwhile, Russia has called for an urgent Security Council meeting over the deteriorating situ-

“SDF said they have fully liberated Shaddadeh”

ation at the Turkish border.

A statement on the Russian foreign ministry’s website said it intends to submit a draft council resolution calling onTurkey to “cease any actions that undermine Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Fighting has intensified in Syria over recent weeks anda deadline to cease military activities was not observed.