BAGHDAD (AP) — President Barack Obama's envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group visited northern Syria over the weekend, according to a coalition official.

Brett McGurk's visit to the town of Kobani was the first known visit by a senior U.S. official to Syrian territory since the beginning of the U.S.-led campaign against IS in August 2014.

McGurk was joined by British and French officials in Kobani, where Kurdish forces aided by U.S.-led airstrikes drove back IS militants a year ago, handing the extremists one of their biggest defeats.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that monitors the conflict, also reported the visit.