Heavy fighting has also been reported in the north and northwest of Syria. In the north, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have continued to fight near the ISIL stronghold of Raqqa. The Kurdish-Arab alliance has announced it will expand its battlefield, and its next target will be the town of Al Tabqah to the west of Raqqa. 

In the northwest, Islamic State fighters attacked opposition forces in Aleppo province over the weekend, as ISIL tried to capture the rebel-held town of Marea, near the Turkish border. Clashes have somewhat abated over the past two days, but fighting is still underway inside the walls of the besieged Maday and Azaz.