Terror on heights as ISIS seizes key Syrian town

The Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), an Al Qaeda splinter group, Tuesday seized a strategic Bukamal town in Syria's Deir al-Zour province along the Iraqi border following days of intense clashes with rival jihadi group.

The Nusra Front and the ISIS have been fighting since early this year. Their battles have claimed the lives of more than 7,000 insurgents and civilians since the beginning of 2014 in northern and eastern Syria, according to the Observatory.

The two rebel groups have been fighting over Bukamal due to its strategic location on the border with Iraq and its oilfields. Meanwhile, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said as many as 2,417 Iraqis, mostly civilians, were killed in terrorist attacks and violence in June.

In another development, the ISIS staged a military parade in Syria's northern city of al-Raqqa, displaying weaponry and military gear it looted from military depots in neighbouring Iraq, activists said Tuesday.

On June 10, Sunni militant groups, including those linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), an Al Qaeda offshoot, took over the key cities of Mosul and Tikrit, as well as other northern and western parts of the Sunni heartland as Iraqi security forces were driven into disarray when waves of surprise attacks were mounted against them.