Fierce clashes are ongoing between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and ISIS fighters on the road between the town of Tabqa, the city of Raqqa, and the Tabqa Military Airbase where SDF fighters have repelled and ISIS attack on their positions between Tabqa and Raqqa.
The US-backed force managed to capture the road lying between the two ISIS strongholds earlier this week. Scores of militants had been killed and their weapons confiscated, according to pro-SDF sources.
An official in the ranks of the SDF confirmed that the Kurdish-led coalition is resuming its advance in the area in full swing aiming to besiege Tabqa before storming it. He also added that the operations will try to avoid the Tabqa Dam because of a threat to deliver a critical damage to this facility.
From its side, ISIS’s official news agency Amaq declared that the terror group had destroyed an armored bulldozer belonging to the SDF around the village of Tal Al-Samman in Raqqa’s northern countryside.
Amaq additionally claimed that 9 civilians had been killed by two US airstrikes in the villages of Córdoba and Al-Mansoura in northwestern Raqqa.
The SDF seeks to capture Tabqa and the nearby area prior to launching its final push to Raqqa, the capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate.