The self-proclaimed Islamic State has launched a new offensive in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo. The militants have pushed back an alliance which includes Western-backed rebels, capturing villages near the Turkish border and coming within 30 miles of a main border crossing between Turkey and Syria. As rebels appealed to the United States for airstrikes to counteract the assault, the U.S. Embassy in Syria accused the Syrian military of carrying out airstrikes to help ISIL’s advance. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, May marked the bloodiest month so far this year in Syria, with more than 6,650 people killed across the country.