In two districts of Syria's Hasakeh city, Kurdish fighters and regime forces rest before returning to battle the Islamic State group, a shared enemy being fought jointly for the first time.

Although the two forces are fighting in different parts of the northeastern city, where control is divided between the Kurds and the government, both are necessary to defeat the jihadists.

Magdalena Chudzicka, a mother of four, is rolling out her welcome mat.

Her family is among dozens in Poland opening their homes to Syrian Christians fleeing war and Islamic State (IS) persecution, part of a ground-breaking drive by the Catholic nation's tiny Protestant community to save lives.

Turkey's security forces detained nearly 500 people attempting to cross the border from war-torn Syria on Saturday, the army announced.

"488 people were detained by the land forces command border units while trying to cross into Turkey from Syria and 26 while attempting to cross into Syria from Turkey," the army said on Sunday in a statement posted on its website.

Reporters Without Borders on Sunday welcomed the release of two Syrian media activists freed in an Eid gesture, but called for a third man detained with them to also be freed.

The Paris-based watchdog said Hussein Ghreir and Hani al-Zaitani were both among several hundred political prisoners accused of "terrorism" who were released this week on the Muslim Eid holiday.

Syrian regime air raids on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area near the capital on Saturday killed 12 civilians, a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported five people killed in regime barrel bomb raids in the Aleppo region in the north, taking to 82 the civilian death toll in such attacks in the province this week.

The Islamic State group has executed an Iraqi journalist in the northern city of Mosul on charges of spying, local officials and colleagues said Saturday.

Jala al-Abadi was taken from his home with his phone and laptop on June 4 and executed on Wednesday by firing squad after being sentenced by an IS court.

Islamic State group fighters fired missiles containing toxic gas at Kurdish forces in Syria last month, the forces and a monitoring group said.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights both reported the late June attacks in Hasakeh province in northeastern Syria.

A close alliance between the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State jihadist group and Syrian Kurdish fighters has racked up successes, but also stirred resentments that could hamper the campaign.

Analysts warn that IS can only be defeated in Syria with support from Sunni Arabs, many of whom are being alienated by what they see as U.S. favoritism towards the Kurdish minority.

One of the suspects in a foiled attack on a French military base was instructed by an Islamic State militant in Syria to "hit" France, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said on Friday.

The youngest of three suspects in custody -- aged only 17 -- was given the order when it became clear he would not be able to leave the country to wage jihad in Syria because he was under surveillance, Molins said.

British pilots have taken part in U.S. and Canadian air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria, the defense ministry said on Friday, despite a vote in parliament in 2013 against military action.

"The UK is not conducting air strikes in Syria. But we have a long-standing embed program with allies, where small numbers of UK personnel act under the command of host nations," the ministry said.