Daesh makes closest advance to Aleppo

Beirut/Ankara - Daesh said its fighters had captured five villages in its offensive and killed "more than 10".

Daesh fighters have seized Syrian villages on the outskirts of Aleppo from rival insurgent fighters, a monitoring group said on Friday, despite Russian air strikes that Moscow says have targeted the militant group.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said separately one of its senior commanders had been killed this week near Aleppo, Syria's main northern city.
Daesh are now within 2 km (1 mile) of government-held territory on Aleppo's northern edge, the closest they have been to the city.
Daesh said its fighters had captured five villages in its offensive and killed "more than 10".
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was the biggest advance by Daesh since it launched an offensive against rebels in the northern Aleppo countryside near the Turkish border in late August.
Russian jets and warships have been bombarding targets across Syria for 10 days in a campaign which Moscow says is targeting the Daesh fighters who control large parts of north and east Syria, as well as swathes of neighbouring Iraq.

• MENA