IS recaptured Syrian border town of Abu Kamal in counter attack

The Islamic State group fully recaptured the Syrian border town of Abu Kamal on Saturday, a monitor said, after a tough fightback for its last urban bastion against pro-regime forces.

“IS fully recaptured Abu Kamal, and regime forces and allied militia are now between one to two kilometres from the city limits,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The recapture came after ambushes, car bombs and bomb attacks,” said Abdel Rahman.

Abu Kamal lies on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq and had been the last significant urban centre under IS control in Syria.

After weeks of advancing on the town, regime forces and allied militia overran it on Thursday but have since faced a string of IS counter-attacks.

“It was Daesh’s biggest ambush operation, tricking the attacking forces into thinking they had controlled the city,” Abdel Rahman said.