PYD take town, base near ISIS stronghold Raqqah


The PKK-linked Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party's (PYD) armed People's Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian opposition groups unified under the name Burkan al-Fira managed late Monday to seize the village of Ali Bajiliyah in northern Syria from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).Witnesses in Raqqah, an ISIS stronghold, said Burkan al-Firat, along with YPG forces, had seized control of the village, which is located near the town of Ain Issa.A U.S.-led international coalition has provided support to the YPG in recent clashes that have erupted on the village's outskirts. YPG forces, working in tandem with Burkan al-Firat, recently seized control of the city of Tal Abyad, after which YPG allegedly forced other opposition factions to leave the city.