“The final #DefeatISIS is near,” tweeted Kino Gabriel, spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announcing the commencement of operations against ISIS in the town of Hajin on Friday.
The offensive, part of Operation Roundup, is backed by the US-led coalition.
Late Thursday night, 28 civilians and 26 ISIS militants were killed in airstrikes on an ice factory near the village of al-Soussa, some 25km southeast of Hajin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The conflict monitor could not confirm if it was Iraqi or coalition jets that carried out the strike. The coalition admitted it may have been responsible and told Rudaw they are investigating the incident.
In addition to battling ISIS along the Euphrates River in the Hajin area, the SDF is also confronting the terror group along the Iraq-Syria border where they took control of Dashisha in mid-June.
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