SDF fend off massive 3-day ISIS assault near Tabqa dam
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are meeting fierce ISIS resistance west of Raqqa, near the key Tabqa Dam site.
ISIS militants carried out three days of assaults on the SDF near the villages of eastern and western Jabar, west of Tabqa, using “heavy weapons and excessive numbers,” the SDF Press Center reported.
The assault was finally broken Thursday morning, leaving 49 militants dead. The SDF also seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, they reported.
Tabqa Dam, the largest in Syria, has been used by ISIS “as a headquarters, a prison for high profile hostages, and a training and indoctrination area for leaders since they seized control of it in 2013,” Col. John Dorrian, spokesperson for the Combined Joint Task Force of the global anti-ISIS coalition said on Wednesday.
The coalition is providing air power, training, and advice support for the SDF in their Wrath of Euphrates campaign to retake Raqqa from the terrorist group.
Since the second phase of the campaign began on December 9, the coalition has carried out more than 100 airstrikes in the area of the dam. “Loss of this key terrain will damage the enemy’s prospects and legitimacy as they continue to lose territory,” Dorrian said.
The SDF’s campaign is proceeding on two axes – west and north of Raqqa. On Thursday, the campaign announced they had advanced 17 kilometres on the northern front, killing eight militants.
“Since this current phase began on December 9, the SDF have liberated more than 500 square miles of Syrian land, home to tens of thousands of people who have been brutalized by ISIS rule,” Dorrian said.
ISIS militants carried out three days of assaults on the SDF near the villages of eastern and western Jabar, west of Tabqa, using “heavy weapons and excessive numbers,” the SDF Press Center reported.
The assault was finally broken Thursday morning, leaving 49 militants dead. The SDF also seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, they reported.
The SDF is approaching Tabqa Dam and are within 7.5 kilometres of the key location, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook stated in a press briefing on Thursday.
Tabqa Dam, the largest in Syria, has been used by ISIS “as a headquarters, a prison for high profile hostages, and a training and indoctrination area for leaders since they seized control of it in 2013,” Col. John Dorrian, spokesperson for the Combined Joint Task Force of the global anti-ISIS coalition said on Wednesday.
The coalition is providing air power, training, and advice support for the SDF in their Wrath of Euphrates campaign to retake Raqqa from the terrorist group.
Since the second phase of the campaign began on December 9, the coalition has carried out more than 100 airstrikes in the area of the dam. “Loss of this key terrain will damage the enemy’s prospects and legitimacy as they continue to lose territory,” Dorrian said.
The SDF’s campaign is proceeding on two axes – west and north of Raqqa. On Thursday, the campaign announced they had advanced 17 kilometres on the northern front, killing eight militants.
“Since this current phase began on December 9, the SDF have liberated more than 500 square miles of Syrian land, home to tens of thousands of people who have been brutalized by ISIS rule,” Dorrian said.