An Arab-Kurd alliance battling the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) in Syria on Monday (January 16th) announced it had cleared the group's fighters from 3,200 square kilometres in Syria's al-Raqa province, local media reported.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released casualty figures and progress reports, revealing that since the start of Operation Wrath of the Euphrates , they had liberated 236 villages in the northern province, ARA news reported.

The SDF has killed 620 ISIL fighters during the course of the campaign, captured 18 others and destroyed "over 40 car bombs", alliance officials said.

SDF fighters also seized "a great deal of ammunition and weapons" as well as "a number of ISIL vehicles", they added.

SDF leaders said they had lost 42 of their fighters during the operation, the second phase of which was launched on December 10th.

They praised the co-operation of civilians in the liberated parts of al-Raqa, and promised to protect them and make the necessary sacrifices to maintain civil peace.

As a result of the operation, thousands of civilians have been freed in al-Raqa’s western countryside, and will be returned to their homes after their villages are liberated and demined, SDF officials said.