(MENAFN- Arab News) BEIRUT: Hundreds of Christian families have fled a central Syrian town as Daesh fighters advance toward it activists said Saturday the anniversary of the US beginning airstrikes against the extremists in Iraq.
A US-led coalition has conducted nearly 6000 airstrikes against Daesh expanding its operations to target the extremists in Syria as well. But a year later Daesh remains able to launch attacks across its self-declared 'caliphate' in both countries despite some gains by Kurdish fighters and allied Iraqi forces.
Syria-based activist Bebars Al-Talawy said intense clashes took place Saturday near the central town of Qaryatain which Daesh captured on Thursday. Qaryatain is about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Sadad.
Qaryatain lies in the middle of a triangle formed by the cities of Homs Palmyra and Damascus. Activists say it has a mixed population of around 40000 Muslims and Christians as well as thousands of internally displaced people who earlier fled Homs.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's fighting concentrated in an area between Qaryatain and the village of Mheen which is halfway to Sadad. The Observatory said Syrian troops shelled the area and government warplanes conducted several airstrikes on areas outside Qaryatain.