Battle for Tabqa: US-backed rebel forces enter major ISIL-held Syria town

BEIRUT // A US-backed alliance of Arab-Kurdish forces entered the key ISIL-held town of Tabqa on Monday as they pursued their campaign against the 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 Raqqa, ISIL’s last remaining major stronghold.

Supported by US-led coalition air strikes and special forces advisers, the SDF surrounded Tabqa in early April.

On Monday, SDF fighters entered the town for the first time, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition monitoring group.

“They seized control of several points in the town’s south and were advancing on its western edges,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

The US-led coalition warplanes carried out “intense” strikes in support of the offensive, he said, adding that one raid had killed seven children and four women trying to flee Tabqa.

In an online statement, the SDF said it had captured ISIL-held positions in west Tabqa, including a roundabout, and part of a southern district.

“There are now clearing operations in the liberated positions,” the SDF said.

Tabqa sits on a key supply route about 55 kilometres west of Raqqa, and served as an important ISIL command base, housing the group’s main prison.

According to the Syrian Economic Task Force, a Dubai-based think tank, Tabqa is home to 85,000 people including ISIL fighters from other areas.

The assault on Tabqa began in late March when SDF forces and their US-led coalition allies were airlifted behind ISIL lines.

The ensuing fight has been intense, with ISIL dispatching suicide bombers on a daily basis to try to slow the offensive and coalition warplanes intensifying their raids.

“The real battle begins now,” Mr Abdel Rahman said on Monday, adding that ISIL fighters had “no way” out of the town.

Also on Monday, the US government announced it was imposing “sweeping sanctions” on Syrian officials in response to what Washington says was a sarin gas attack on civilians earlier this month.

The treasury ordered a freeze on all assets in the United States belonging to 271 employees of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), and blocked any American person or business from dealing with them.

The SSRC was responsible for producing the chemical weapons Washington believes were used in the attack and the means to deliver them, the treasury said on Monday.

The April 4 chemical attack in the northwestern rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun killed 88 civilians, including many children. Air raids on the area have continued, with seven people killed in strikes on the town market on Monday, according to the Observatory.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that the Syrian army would halt fire around Khan Sheikhoun if experts were allowed in to conduct an investigation.

Syria’s government has not commented on the offer.

* Agence France-Presse