While nobody was looking...

Liz Sly writes (from Turkey) in the Washington Post that,

while nobody was looking, Islamic State launched a new, deadly offensive in northern Syria. The surprise assault, launched over the weekend, opened a new front in the multi-pronged war being waged by the extremist group across Iraq and Syria, and it underscored the Islamic State’s capacity to catch its enemies off guard.

The push — which came on the heels of the miltants’ capture of the Syrian city of Palmyra and the western Iraqi city of Ramadi late last month — took them within reach of the strategically vital town of Azaz on the Turkish border.

The battle brought into focus the complexity of the war in Syria, where the Islamic State, the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the opposition and Syrian Kurds are fighting .

Read more here.