On Saturday, the militants staged two suicide bombings targeting “opposition forces” near Marea, Islamic State said through its news agency, Aamaq. Following the suicide bombings, militants entered Marea and fighting began inside the town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition media group that tracks Syria’s civil war. Islamic State’s territorial gains around Marea and Azaz, both rebel bastions north of Aleppo, are a blow to the Turkey- and Saudi-backed opposition fighters who have been struggling to retain a foothold in the region while being squeezed by opponents from all sides.