Syria Kurds say in near complete control of Hasaka city

Smoke rises from what activists said were airstrikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on locations controlled by ISIL militants in Hasaka city, on July 9, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

A Syrian Kurdish militia said on Monday it was in near full control of the northeastern city of Hasaka, expanding its sway at the expense of the Damascusgovernment in the wake of an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack in the area.

Full control of Hasaka - which was split between the Kurds and Damascus until last month - would be a major gain for the autonomous Kurdish administration that is fighting ISIL in Syria in partnership with Washington.

ISIL launched a major attack on the city on June 25, focusing initially on government-held southern Hasaka. The ensuing battle drew in the YPG, which held northern Hasaka, resulting in the US-backed Kurds fighting Islamic State in close proximity to government forces shunned by Washington.

YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the city's defence was now entirely in his group's hands. "The regime has collapsed. It could not protect the city and its continuation has become symbolic in limited positions only," he told Reuters.

The statement was at odds with state media reports indicating a strong performance by the Syrian army in the battle for Hasaka. State TV on Monday said the army had made progress against Islamic State to the southeast of the city, encircling its fighters and killing a large number of them.

The YPG's Xelil said his group had deployed in the southern outskirts of Hasaka, meaning it controlled all routes in and out of the city and had encircled Islamic State fighters inside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on the war using sources on the ground, echoed that assessment, saying the YPG had besieged Islamic State forces from the south and were positioned to advance into the city.

Xelil said the YPG had also taken areas from Islamic State within the city itself in the last two days. The advances were ongoing. While the YPG held half the city before the Islamic State attack, it now held "the overwhelming majority", he said.