Syrian Kurdish fighters have chased militants of the so-called ’Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group from a key base north of the jihadists’ stronghold city of Raqa.

Syrian Kurdish fighters have chased militants of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group from a key base north of the jihadists' stronghold city of Raqa, according to a monitoring group.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units took complete control of the Liwa (Brigade) 93 base on Monday, the opposition UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"ISIL lines of defense were pushed back to the gates of Raqa," added Rami
Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory.

The base was important due to its position overlooking strategic roads linking Raqa to other ISIL outposts in the provinces of Aleppo to the west and Hasakah to the east. ISIL militants captured it from the Syrian army last summer.

Restoring the base is the second blow inflicted on ISIL fighters by the Kurds in a week, after the capture of Tal Abyad, on Syria's border with Turkey.

Tal Abyad was a key conduit for foreign fighters and supplies into ISIL-held territory in Syria, and for exports of black market oil from terrorist-held fields.

Kurdish forces defended the Syrian town of Kobane against ISIL in a months-long battle, and have emerged as some of the most effective forces battling the takfiri group in the year since it declared a cross-border "caliphate" with neighboring Iraq.