(Reuters) After the Kurdish YPG militia, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, had made significant gains in recent weeks against Islamic State in northeastern Syria, IS appeared to try to seize back the initiative on Tuesday, attacking Kurdish forces using tanks and heavy weapons around Ras al-Ayn near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The YPG has emerged as the main partner for the U.S.-led alliance fighting IS in Syria. Backed by Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters and air strikes, the YPG defeated Islamic State in Kobani in January.
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