Kurdish-led Forces Liberate Al Hawl from ISIS
Hasakah (K24) - US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared Friday they have taken complete control of Al-Hawl by pushing ISIS back. Al-Hawl is a town of 4,000 in North East Syria.
An SDF spokesperson, Lond Rojava, confirmed the liberation of Al Hawl, which is relatively 40 kilometers South East of Hasaka province. Rojava told a K24 reporter that ISIS withdrew its forces to Ash Shaddadi, which is a more populated area further south from Hasaka.
The spokesperson also said three IS militants have been killed today in clashes with SDF and the mine clearance teams are clearing the roads and residential areas from possible traps.
With its latest victory, SDF that is made up of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Arab Al-Sanadid Army, and the Syriac Military Council, have liberated more than 250-square kilometers and up to 60 villages close to the Iraqi border.
A K24 reporter said an anti-IS coalition warplane airstrike destroyed an ISIS truck bomb inside Al Hawl. He reported that roughly 100 ISIS militants have been killed in clashes and airstrikes since the beginning of Al Hawl offensive 14 days ago. Whereas Kurdish and allied forces' say eight SDF fighters are dead.
The US-led anti-IS coalition intensified airstrikes in support of the SDF offensive on Al-Hawl. According to an SDF statement released on Thursday, coalition aircrafts bombed an oil field under IS control some 40 kilometers west of Al Hawl and killed 11 militants.
A press release by US military Combined Joint Task Force published on Friday says seven strikes on November 12, struck "six separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL, fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, and an ISIL mortar position near Al Hawl."
SDF aims to capture villages and towns further south in Hasakah. The control of Al Hawl by Kurdish-led SDF in Syria coincides with the liberation of Shingal by KRG Peshmerga on the other side of the border with Iraq.
(Hayber Othman and Dilovan Cheto contributed to this report from Hasakah)