IS warns of Tabqa dam collapse, evacuates militants in Raqqa

RAQQA, Syria (Kurdistan24) – Activists in Syria on Sunday said the Islamic State (IS) issued an evacuation from Raqqa after warnings the Tabqa dam could collapse.

The Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) group said civilians were being urged to flee Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS.

RBSS revealed the insurgent group had warned residents the dam was on the verge of collapsing as a result of US-led coalition airstrikes.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the Tabqa dam was out of service.

A local source told AFP recent clashes at the dam have risked dangerous rising water levels.

“Shelling on the area…that supplies that dam with electricity has put it out of service,” the source revealed.

“The work needed to fix the problem is not possible because there is not sufficient staff available as a result of the intensive shelling in the area of the dam,” he added.

Specific shelling leading to the damage of the dam could not be confirmed, but Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Talal Silo assured there was no immediate danger.

“There have been no airstrikes on the dam,” he told AFP.

On Wednesday, US Army forces helicoptered SDF troops behind IS lines to begin their offensive in the area, 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of Raqqa.

“We carried out this operation to land there to avoid shelling or damage to the dam,” Silo explained.

In early March, the UN warned damage to the dam “could lead to massive scale flooding across Raqqa [and] catastrophic humanitarian implications.”

Over 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the civil war began in 2011.