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BEIRUT — The military chief of Syria’s main Western-backed rebel group warned Saturday that the country risked a “humanitarian disaster” if allies do not send more aid to help his moderate forces halt the advance of Islamic militants.

Extremist fighters of the Islamic State group control a swath of land straddling Syria and neighbouring Iraq, mostly running across the Euphrates river, where they have established their self-styled caliphate. Most of the land was seized last month in a lightening push across Iraq.

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In recent days, fighters from the group have been pushing into rebel-held territory around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, close to the Turkish border. They are also consolidating their rule along a corridor of land in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour that leads to neighbouring Iraq.

“We call on urgent support for the FSA with weapons and ammunition, and to avoid a humanitarian disaster that threatens our people,” said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir, commander of the Free Syrian army. “Time is not on our side. Time is a slashing sword,” he said.