US-backed fighters cornered the Islamic State group in a last part of Tabqa on Monday, after tearing down a huge jihadist flag that had fluttered over the northern Syrian city. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, were in control of all but a fifth of Tabqa as of early … Read more
US-backed fighters have captured 80 percent of Syria’s Tabqa from the Islamic State group, a monitor said on Monday, a week after they first entered the town. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) broke into Tabqa from the south last week and have steadily advanced north, cornering IS in three contiguous neighbourhoods on the bank of … Read more
By launching air strikes against Syrian Kurdish fighters and threatening more action, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to send a tough message to Donald Trump in the hope of bringing about a major U-turn in US Syria policy. Turkey last week bombed targets of the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, earning … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday his government is ‘seriously saddened’ by television footage showing US military forces operating alongside Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara views as terrorists and Washington believes are the most effective fighting force against Islamic State jihadists. Turkish forces last week launched airstrikes on Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), … Read more
A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance is advancing against the ISIS in the key town of Tabqa near the jihadist bastion of Raqa in northern Syria, a monitor said Sunday. The Syrian Democratic Forces now control over half the town of Tabqa, including most of its heart, the Old City, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor … Read more
As US-backed fighters advance on the Islamic State group’s de facto Syrian stronghold Raqa, a waterway “corridor” has become a key supply line, and an escape route for displaced civilians. An AFP team accompanied fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab alliance that is fighting to capture the strategic town of Tabqa, some 55 … Read more
A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance is advancing against the Islamic State group in the key town of Tabqa near the jihadist bastion of Raqa in northern Syria, a monitor said Sunday. The Syrian Democratic Forces now control at least 40 percent of the town of Tabqa, and more than half of its heart, the Old City, … Read more
Turkey and the United States can join forces to turn the Islamic State group’s defacto capital of Raqa in Syria into a “graveyard” for the jihadists, the Turkish president said on Saturday. “The huge America, the coalition and Turkey can join hands and turn Raqa into a graveyard for Daesh,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an … Read more
Fighting erupted on Wednesday along Syria’s northeastern border between Turkish forces and Kurdish militiamen, as tensions boiled over in the aftermath of deadly Turkish air strikes the previous day. The strikes against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have thrown the complexity of Syria’s war into sharp relief and even sparked calls for a no-fly … Read more
Turkey informed the United States and Russia before launching strikes against Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, the Turkish foreign minister said Wednesday, after Washington angrily accused Ankara of lacklustre coordination. Turkish war planes carried out strikes on Kurdish militia forces in Syria on Tuesday and also hit Kurdish forces in neighbouring Iraq in what … Read more
The Islamic State group is using weaponised drones to hold off US-backed forces advancing in a key Syrian town, a monitor said Wednesday, a tactic the jihadists have also used in neighbouring Iraq. With air cover from the US-led coalition, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were locked in clashes inside IS-held Tabqa on Wednesday, two … Read more
The toll in Turkish air raids on Kurdish positions in northeastern Syria rose to 28 killed, a monitor said Wednesday, a day after Ankara said it had targeted “terrorist havens” near its border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of those killed were members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is … Read more
Turkish warplanes killed more than 20 Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group. The deadliest bombardment was on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are leading the US-backed fight for the important IS-held town of Tabqa in northern … Read more
Turkish warplanes conducted a barrage of air strikes on Kurdish positions in northeast Syria early Tuesday, leaving several fighters dead, Kurdish forces and a monitor said. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) said the strikes hit their positions near the Syrian border town of Al-Malikiyah at 2:00 am Tuesday (2300 GMT Monday). “Turkish planes carried … Read more
Syria’s Tabqa, which US-backed forces entered Monday, is doubly strategic: it lies on the road to the Islamic State group’s Raqa bastion and the nearby dam is the country’s largest. Tabqa is both the name of the town and the dam and capturing both would allow the US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance known as the Syrian Democratic … Read more
A US-backed alliance of Arab-Kurdish forces entered the key jihadist-held town of Tabqa on Monday as they pursued their campaign against the Islamic State group in northern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces have set their sights on Tabqa and the adjacent dam as part of their broader offensive for the city of Raqa, the Syrian … Read more
A coalition air strike accidentally killed 18 members of a US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting the Islamic State group near a key town in northern Syria, the US-led coalition said Thursday. Tuesday’s strike occurred south of Tabqa, a strategically important town on the Euphrates River next to a dam and military airport, and close to the … Read more
Turkey is planning new offensives this spring against groups deemed terrorist organisations by Ankara, even after the completion of a half-year operation inside Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. Turkey announced last week that it had completed the Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, which began in August to expel Islamic State (IS) militants and … Read more
In a muddy camp in northern Syria, civilians who fled Raqa said fear of an expected US-backed assault on the Islamic State group bastion was reaching a fever pitch. This week, hundreds of civilians escaped Raqa and headed north to the camp in Ain Issa, in territory controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed … Read more
The road to the Tabqa dam in northern Syria is strewn with evidence of the clashes being waged by a US-backed alliance of fighters against the Islamic State group. Bits of burned vehicles and the casings of ammunition litter the roadside leading into the dam complex, which the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) entered Friday. Two … Read more