US-backed Syrian forces ‘fully capture’ Tabqa from ISIL
Mai 10, 2017
Syrian Democratic Forces say they now control all of the key city and an adjacent dam east of ISIL stronghold of Raqqa.
After taking Tabqa, SDF forces are expected to advance towards Raqqa [File: Rodi Said/Reuters]
A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters has fully captured the city of Tabqa and a strategic dam nearby from ISIL, according to the group and a monitor.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Wednesday it had taken full control of the contested city with the help of US-led coalition air raids after more than a month of heavy fighting.
“Our forces have seized control of both the dam and the city of Tabqa,” SDF spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed told Al Jazeera.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor that relies on a network of contacts on the ground to track developments in Syria’s war, also confirmed the SDF’s takeover of the area.
The city and the adjacent Tabqa dam are key objectives in the US-led coalition’s push to retake the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL, also known as ISIS) self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa.
