DHAKA: Fighters from Islamic State (IS) have taken control of a key Syrian government airbase, Tabqa.

The activists of IS said that which reports the BBC.

The Tabqa airbase was the last remaining stronghold of Bashar al-Assad's government in Raqqa province.

State TV confirmed that government forces had ‘evacuated’the airbase. Days of fighting there have reportedly killed hundreds on both sides.

More than 191,000 people have now been killed in the three-year-old Syrian conflict up to April, the UN says.

IS, formerly known as Isis, has expanded its reach into large parts of eastern Syria and northern Iraq in recent months.

The US has launched limited airstrikes against the group in Iraq but has not targeted them in Syria.

BDST: 1000 HRS, AUG 25, 2014