Islamic State take Syrian town as fighting looks set to intensify

Islamic State fighters drove Syrian government forces from Maheen, a town in Homs province in the west of the country, yesterday, as fighting looked set to intensify despite a flurry of international diplomacy and talks between regional rivals.

The jihadists’ advance came even as Russian warplanes and Syrian forces supported by them stepped up assaults against insurgents in west and northwest Syria, and the United States separately sought to increase pressure on Islamic State.

The fighting tempered any expectation of progress towards a political solution to the four-year civil war, with warring sides and their foreign backers refusing to back down in a conflict where the world’s major military powers except China are directly involved.

Washington said last week it would for the first time station ground troops in Syria to advise and assist rebels fighting Islamic State.

Talks between world powers in Vienna meanwhile adjourned with calls for a nationwide ceasefire but key differences remained between rivals backing opposing sides.

Some 50 fighters on the government side were reported killed. – (Reuters)