Damascus: Syrian troops reportedly killed tens of "terrorists" in the northern part of the country Thursday.
The "terrorists" were killed in the predominantly Kurdish city of Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobane, Xinhua reported, citing news agency SANA.
The incident marked a rare instance when the Syrian troops actually targeted the extremist fighters near the city, where Kurdish fighters and Syrian rebels have been engaged in intense battles with the Islamic State (IS) militants, the report said.
Activists had previously said that the Kurds were the only ones fighting the IS in Ayn al-Arab.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said the IS Thursday executed six Syrians in the terror group's de facto capital of al-Raqqa in northern Syria on charges of belonging to anti-IS groups, known as "Awakenings".
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday that the region is going through a "critical juncture," adding that international acknowledgment of the threats of terrorism is one of the factors determining the future of the region.
Assad said that the Syrian army will keep confronting the terrorist groups and continue to achieve national reconciliation.
