The Islamic State because it needs to continue to receive funding from 1.2 billion Sunnis around the world likely is going to try to take Syria now from Assad especially because they have been stopped by the U.S. in Kurdistan and Baghdad. So, we may see Assad fall soon because of this. Putin is so mired in Ukraine and all that that he may have forgotten Assad in some ways and might have written him off. However, Iran cannot afford to do this because Iran's future survival is at stake.
13 August 2014
Last updated at 06:59 ET
Islamic State fighters now control several towns and cities close to Syria's border with Turkey
The BBC's Rami Ruhayem says that if confirmed, it would be a significant expansion for IS fighters.
The group holds large swathes of Syria and Iraq, declaring the creation of a caliphate, or Islamic state.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) - an activist group that monitors the conflict - says IS took control overnight of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh, another town close to the border with Turkey.
The militants also took a string of nearby villages from Syrian opposition groups who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad. They include Masoudiyeh, Dabiq and Ghouz, according to the SOHR.
Correspondents say the seizing of the towns and villages could threaten Syrian rebel supply lines into the city of Aleppo.
The IS fighters have made the northern city of Raqqa its base since overrunning an army base last month
Opposition groups in Aleppo have been fighting President Assad
for over three years, but are being squeezed by IS gains in the north
and a government offensive from the south.
Diplomats say Syrian government forces have only recently begun taking on IS after the group seized more territory in the country and across the border in Iraq.
IS has had control of several parts of Syria since 2013 and used the northern town of Raqqa as its hub in Syria after capturing an army base there last month.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 as a popular uprising against President Assad's regime, but has since turned into a brutal civil war that has killed at least 170,000 people.
Some nine million people, or a third of Syria's pre-war population, have fled their homes.
Syria crisis: Islamic State fighters seize Aleppo towns
Islamic State fighters now control several towns and cities close to Syria's border with Turkey
Islamic
State (IS) militants in Syria have taken control of several towns in
the northern province of Aleppo, according to reports from activists.
The group seized the town of Akhtarin, 50km (30 miles) northeast of Aleppo city, where Syrian rebels are holed up. The BBC's Rami Ruhayem says that if confirmed, it would be a significant expansion for IS fighters.
The group holds large swathes of Syria and Iraq, declaring the creation of a caliphate, or Islamic state.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) - an activist group that monitors the conflict - says IS took control overnight of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh, another town close to the border with Turkey.
The militants also took a string of nearby villages from Syrian opposition groups who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad. They include Masoudiyeh, Dabiq and Ghouz, according to the SOHR.
Correspondents say the seizing of the towns and villages could threaten Syrian rebel supply lines into the city of Aleppo.
The IS fighters have made the northern city of Raqqa its base since overrunning an army base last month
Diplomats say Syrian government forces have only recently begun taking on IS after the group seized more territory in the country and across the border in Iraq.
IS has had control of several parts of Syria since 2013 and used the northern town of Raqqa as its hub in Syria after capturing an army base there last month.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 as a popular uprising against President Assad's regime, but has since turned into a brutal civil war that has killed at least 170,000 people.
Some nine million people, or a third of Syria's pre-war population, have fled their homes.
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