Syrian rebels seized a strategic town from ISIL near the Turkish border north of Aleppo in another important step on the march towards the armed group's de facto capital, Raqqa.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor confirmed that groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) captured the town of al-Rai on Thursday after fierce battles with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).
"This is the beginning of the end of Daesh [ISIL]. Those who have bet the FSA had been decimated are now proven wrong. It's a victory for the Free Syrian Army," said Abu Abdullah from the Nour al-Din al-Zinki Brigades, which participated in the assault on the heavily defended border town.