Warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition have conducted at least 150 airstrikes on ISIS to bolster a major offensive on the extremists' Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, a monitor said Friday.
SDF forces have pushed forward from Ain Issa, which lies less than 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Raqqa city, into the surrounding farmland and small villages made up of low buildings.
The fighting and bombardment has left 31 ISIS fighters dead so far, Abdel Rahman said.
Across the border in Iraq, pro-government forces have advanced on bridges leading to ISIS-held Fallujah, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, head of the Fallujah Liberation Operations Command.
About 50,000 civilians are estimated to be trapped inside the city, and only 800 had been able to escape thus far, according to the UN's refugee agency.
Fallujah, which lies only 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, has been out of government control since January 2014 and is one of only two remaining major Iraqi cities still in ISIS hands, the other being Mosul.
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