Kurdish fighters in northern Syria say they have captured a key town from Islamic State, just 50km (30 miles) from the group's headquarters at Raqqa.
A spokesman for the the Popular Protection Units (YPG) said Ain Issa and its surrounding villages were now under the militia's "total control".
It follows the capture on Monday night of a military base outside the town.
The YPG captured the town of Tal Abyad on the Turkish border last week, cutting a major supply line for IS.
The jihadist group has suffered a string of defeats to Kurdish forces since being forced to withdraw from the town of Kobane in January after a four-month battle. IS defences 'pushed back'
The Kurds' rapid advance through Raqqa province continued on Monday with the fall of Brigade 93, a base which IS captured from the Syrian military last year. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the YPG and allied Syrian rebel fighters overran the base before heading south towards Ain Issa, supported by US-led coalition air strikes.
By Tuesday afternoon, they had taken full control of the town and nearby villages, YPG spokesman Redur Xelil told the Reuters news agency.
"Islamic State's defensive lines have now been pushed back to the outskirts of Raqqa city because the area between Raqqa and Ain Issa is militarily weak and they have no fortifications," Rami Abdul Rahman, the Syrian Observatory's director, told the AFP news agency. ....
Raqqa is the claimed capital of the caliphate claimed by ISIL. There are apparently no fortified positions between Tal Abyad and Raqqa. ISIL may be forced to pull back fighters from Mosul and Ramadi in Iraq to protect their hold on Raqqa in Syria. If Raqqa falls it would be a serious blow to ISIL propaganda and claims of a caliphate.
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