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Islamic State Closes In On Syrian City Of Aleppo

Islamic State Closes In On Syrian City Of Aleppo

Islamic State fighters are said to have seized several villages close to the Syrian city of Aleppo, despite a Russian bombing campaign that Moscow says has targeted the militant group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that the group's militants are now within 1.2 miles (2km) of government-held territory on the northern edge of the city, which has suffered widespread damage during the civil war that erupted in the wake of protests against President al Bashar Assad.

The Observatory, which monitors the fighting, said it was the biggest advance by IS since it launched an offensive against rival rebels in Aleppo near the Turkish border in August.

IS already controls large parts of eastern Syria and of Iraq.

Russia, which launched airstrikes in Syria over a week ago in support of Assad, says it is hitting around 10 targets each day and claims to have hit 60 targets in the last day - but there has been no independent confirmation of the death toll.

However, the Observatory said there had been no significant advances by government forces backed by allied militia in areas where ground offensives were launched this week.

"It's back and forth," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Observatory.

News of the advance came as the US announced it was largely abandoning its failed programme to train moderate rebels fighting IS and would instead provide arms and equipment directly to rebel leaders on the battlefield.

The UK also said it would hold new talks with Russia's military on pilot safety in Syria's war as soon as this weekend, as the two countries seek to avoid an accidental clash as they carry out rival bombing campaigns.

Seeking to underline the dangers, US officials said four Russian cruise missiles fired from a warship in the Caspian Sea had crashed in Iran, which drew a swift denial from Russia.

Speaking in London on Friday, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said, however, that the US had indications that Russian cruise missiles malfunctioned.