The Arabic language al-Ahd daily quoted opposition sources as saying that the ISIS withdrew from the al-Bab town via the road connecting the town of Tadif to al-Khafseh region and moved its forces from there to al-Tabaqh in Western Raqqa after ferrying across the Assad Lake on Thursday.
The daily further added that the Turkish army and Ankara-backed militants of the Euphrates Shield operation entered al-Bab after ISIS’s withdrawal.
Al-Ahd went on to say that the ISIS was afraid of the Syrian Army advance from the Eastern direction of Kuweires airbase towards al-Khafseh as such a move could lay siege on ISIS terrorists in al-Bab.
The daily further pointed out that once the Syrian soldiers start their march from their positions in Kuweires airbase and go to a 15km distance from al-Khafseh, they will reach al-Babiri pumping station and foil the Turkish army’s planned road to Raqqa.
Al-Ahd reported that Turkey has called on the US to provide air cover and ground backup for its forces to reach Raqqa via two roads that run along the Euphrates River’s banks and go through the regions under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Tal Abyadh in the East and Jarabulus in the West.
The Syrian army’s advance from Kuweires to al-Khafseh is predicted to be fast as no one lives in the region anymore.
Media sources said on Friday that the ISIS terrorists began withdrawal from the strategic town of al-Bab in Northern Syria.