Kurdish-led forces cross Euphrates, liberate Tabqa dam from IS
TABQA, Syria (Kurdistan24) – The US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Syria on Saturday announced the liberation of a strategic dam on the Euphrates River in the outskirts of the group’s stronghold of Raqqa.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an offensive on the Tabqa dam after a group of their fighters were airdropped on Wednesday by a US-led coalition aircraft near the town of Tabqa, some 60 kilometers (40 miles), west of Raqqa.
The SDF social media published photos of the dam as controlled by their fighters after heavy clashes with IS insurgents.
The SDF also announced they liberated about eight villages west and south of Tabqa after they crossed the Euphrates in the airdrop.
“Our forces [SDF] killed dozens of [IS] terrorists and captured 16 of their bodies,” the SDF media reported.
In a Pentagon news conference, US Army Colonel Joseph Scrocca said the SDF liberation of Tabqa was critical to isolating Raqqa, and the next step toward annihilating IS in Syria.
According to Scrocca, the dam, city, and airfield were critical to IS for importing and harboring foreign fighters and exporting terror.
“The Tabqa locations are [IS’] last link to their territory west of the Euphrates River,” he said.
The Tabqa dam, the largest on the Euphrates, stretches four kilometers across the river to the southern bank.
Additionally, the SDF resumed their offensive on Raqqa and repelled an IS attack in the town of Karama at the east entrance of the city.
“Clashes are ongoing at the eastern entrance of Raqqa,” the SDF media reported.
RAQQA OFFENSIVE: THREE PHASES
On Nov. 5, 2016, the SDF launched a comprehensive operation, dubbed “Wrath of the Euphrates,” with the ultimate aim of capturing Raqqa.
On Dec. 10, 2016, the SDF began the second phase of the operation from the village of Qadiriya in northern Raqqa and approached the Tabqa dam.
On Feb. 4, the SDF announced the launch of the third phase which ended after troops entered Deir al-Zor Province last month.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany