Free Republic

Life is returning back to normal in Tabqa after its liberation from ISIS forces back in May 2017. One aspect of normalization efforts is education.   Today thousands of children in Tabqa returned back to the classrooms after they lost six years under the invasion of ISIS and Al Nusra.   The new semester started in 100 schools and 20 thousand students. 600 teachers also started their duty.   The administration of Tabqa released a statement to celebrate the opening of schools in the region. The administration also said that the number of schools and teachers will be increased in...

AL-TABQA- The Euphrates Dam Administration announced that a new advance has been achieved after placing the 8th turbine at the pilot stage of rotation after a month and a half of completing the 3rd turbine repair, and after the dam has been damaged by IS mercenaries. The turbine is expected to produce an electric power of 100 megawatts per hour which is considered an achievement with very limited potential.The engineer administrative in the Euphrates Dam Ali al-Rawy stated that this turbine has been repaired by the efforts of 250 workers in the dam, and by the support of the...

Rojda Felat, the commander of a US-backed operation by Kurdish and Arab fighters to capture the Syrian city of Raqqa, uses a walkie-talkie near the Tabqa Dam, west of Raqqa, Syria, March 30, 2017. TABQA, Syria — Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when the peaceful conflict turned into a military one, Kurdish factions have been working for change in Syria. A large number of the fighters in the Kurdish factions have been female, and they have gained considerable experience in leading battles against the Islamic State (IS). Rojda Felat, one of the top commanders...

People had to migrate from Tabqa because of ISIS gangs, and are returning home after SDF fighters liberated the town. Officials from the Raqqa Civilian Assembly stated that before the liberation, most of the citizens had fled the city because of ISIS massacres and the population had fallen to 15 thousand. 50 thousand citizens returned to their lands after Tabqa was liberated by he SDF fighters on May 10. With the returning citizens, the population rose to 65 thousand. On the other hand, due to emerging clashes between Syrian regime forces and the gangs in Tedmur, Homs, Suxna, Dêir ez-Zor...

In Tabqa, freedom sprouts from war, strife and blood. One of the most important phases in the Wrath of Euphrates operation launched on the night of March 21 is the Tabqa operation. Tabqa is now on the eve of being completely cleared of ISIS gangs. The Tabqa town consists of two parts. The town center, where the people mostly live, has been completely cleared of ISIS gangs. The gangs are now trapped in the 7-story lodging buildings nearby the dam. SDF fighters have turned their barrels towards this area. While SDF fighters clash with the gangs on one hand, on...

RAQQA – Tonight is the most important night for the Tabqa operation, according to a statement released on the official SDF website.The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmad said the following in her statement on the near liberation of Tabqa: “This night is the night of definite success and the night Daesh (ISIS) gangs will be pushed out of Tabqa.”In the statement, the spokeswoman also said that 90% of Tabqa city had been liberated, that only the Tabqa Dam and a few other minor areas remained for liberation.After heavy clashes between SDF fighters and the ISIS gangs in...

SDF fighters inside Tabqah on 1 May 2017. (Photo: ANHA) The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have “almost completely” captured northern Syria’s Tabqah city from the Islamic State (IS) group, a commander of the majority Kurdish-Arab force said.Abdulqadir Hevdili told Hawar news agency that SDF fighters had liberated nine neighbourhoods from jihadist fighters in the past two days and that clashes continued in three small areas.“We will give the people of Syria the good news very soon,” he said.Another commander, Jako Zerkeh, told AFP that the battle in the small city had been “the toughest battle we’ve ever waged.”Zerkeh added that the SDF...

U.S.-backed militias said on Monday they had pushed Islamic State fighters out of the old quarters of Tabqa, a strategically vital town controlling Syria's largest dam, hemming the militants into the remaining modern district along the shore. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance made up of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighting groups, are fighting a multi-phased campaign to drive Islamic State from its stronghold of Raqqa, 40km (25 miles) downstream and east of Tabqa. The SDF will wait to assault Raqqa until it seizes Tabqa, its military officials have previously said, but it had made slow progress since besieging...

The Tabqa operation launched by the Democratic Syrian Forces has entered day 32. SDF is tightening the siege step by step, and the gangs are trapped inside. They attacked again to break the siege, but they were pushed back and 72 gang members were killed. At 05.00 yesterday, ISIS gangs carried out simultaneous attacks in Ayid Kebîr and Cub al-Abû Cabir villages to the south of Tabqa, the Military Airport and the surroundings of Icêl village to the southwest and SDF positions in Îbad, Safsafah and Sahil El Xesheb villages to the east with heavy weapons and suicide bombers. ISIS...

Internal clashes broke out on Saturday between militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the town of Tabqa in Syria’s northeastern Raqqa province, military sources reported.This comes amidst continued advance by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS in Tabqa. The SDF has imposed a heavy siege on ISIS-held neighbourhoods inside the town. A source in the Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed that internal fighting erupted among ISIS fighters in Tabqa, after some of them wanted to surrender due to the SDF siege on the town.“As a result of the fighting and the siege on the ISIS terrorists inside the...

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday took over the radio station of ISIS in the city of Tabqa in Raqqa province.“The Syrian Democratic Forces made new progress in the city of Tabqa, taking control of the ISIS radio station,” Jesper Söder, a Swedish volunteer with the Syrian Democratic Forces told ARA News. “The areas liberated by the SDF are used by civilians who escape the ISIS terrorists. The Syrian Democratic forces cleared all mines laid by Daesh [ISIS] around and in the village of Kabbash, west of Tabqah,” he said.The SDF fighter told ARA News that Tabqa city could be liberated soon. “Maybe in a few days...

Commander Rojda Felat (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed offensive to capture the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State will last a number of months, the operation's commander said, a longer timeframe than previously signalled by the Kurdish YPG militia that is at the heart of the campaign. Rojda Felat spoke to Reuters near the Taqba Dam some 40 km (25 miles) west of Raqqa, a major focus of the "Euphrates Wrath" campaign by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that groups the YPG and allied Arab militia fighters. A member of the YPG, Felat is one of around 1,000 women taking...

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend In a briefing via telephone from Baghdad, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend answered questions regarding the current situation in Syria and Iraq.Townsend first commented on the reported deaths of more than 200 civilians due to US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. “I’ll say this, if we did it, and I’d say there’s at least a fair chance that we did. It was an unintentional accident of war and we will transparently report it to you when we’re ready,” Townsend, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told journalists.He stressed the coalition had set the highest...

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights was informed by several reliable sources that the Euphrates Dam which is located on the Euphrates River north of al-Tabaqa city in the western countryside of al-Raqqah has stopped working, the reasons are still unknown until now, where the sources of the observatory suggested that the Dam has stopped because of a power outage, which is being generated from the dam automatically, also the intersecting sources confirmed to the Syrian observatory for Human Rights that the main body of the Dam and the main turbines are still under the control the “Islamic State” organization...

Raqqa INVASION: Russia, Syrian army and US march on ISIS capital for explosive finale ISIS militants could be flushed out of their de facto capital in an explosive battle with the terror nuts. By Peter Walker / Published 3rd June 2016 The Syrian army and US-backed militias are reportedly marching on Raqqa in what could be a defining landmark moment. Russian air strikes today blasted Daesh-held territory around seven miles from the extremists' stronghold. A military source said: "The field leadership does not give information about the main direction or the secondary direction, but the direction is open to two...

Islamic State militants capture key Syrian air base - giving them open road to the sea and massive store of weapons and ammunition. Islamic State militants have seized a major Syrian air base, wiping out the last government stronghold in a province dominated by jihadists. The extremists won a week-long battle today to capture the sprawling Tabqa base 25 miles from their stronghold in Raqqa, reportedly killing dozens of soldiers in the process. The base was reportedly one of the military's largest facilities in the region, with several warplane squadrons, helicopters, tanks, artillery and ammunition. Its capture is a huge...