Jihadists advance in Syria's Aleppo province: NGO

Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have taken control of a string of villages in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
      
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the extremist group had managed to seize the six villages north of the city of Aleppo, and not far from the border with Turkey.
      
Fighting was ongoing for control of another village in the area, Arshaf, the group said.
      
The Observatory said the group took the areas "after fierce clashes with rebels and Islamist battalions that remained in the area after Al-Nusra Front and other Islamist battalions withdrew at the end of July".
      
Al-Nusra Front, which is Al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, joined moderate and Islamist rebel groups in a coalition that began fighting the Islamic State in January.
      
But in recent weeks, Al-Nusra has also fought other rebel groups, further complicating the status of the armed opposition in Syria.
      
The Observatory said the ISIL capture of the villages was a strategic prize, because it would open the way for the group to attack the towns of Marea and Azaz.
      
Marea is a stronghold of the Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist groups that is among those fighting against IS.
      
Azaz sits next to the border crossing with Turkey, which would be a valuable asset to ISIL as it seeks to expand its self-declared "caliphate" in the territory it holds in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
      
The Islamic State emerged from Al-Qaeda's one-time branch in Iraq, and initially fought alongside Syria's opposition, including moderate rebels and Al-Nusra...