The Islamic State group on Friday kept up a counter offensive, seizing a key border crossing after capturing an Iraqi provincial capital and a renowned Syrian heritage site.
The jehadis, who now control roughly half of Syria, reinforced their self-declared transfrontier “caliphate” with the capture of the Al-Tanaf to Al-Walid crossing on the Damascus-Baghdad highway.
It was the last border crossing with Iraq still held by the Damascus Government. Except for a short section of frontier in the north under Kurdish control, all the rest are now held by ISIS. The jehadis surge, which has also seen them capture Ramadi and the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in the past week, comes despite eight months of US-led air strikes aimed at pushing them back.