US-backed fighters corner Daesh in Syria’s Tabaqa

TABAQA, Syria — US-backed fighters cornered the Daesh terror group in a last part of Tabaqa on Monday, after tearing down a huge extremist 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 Tabaqa as of early Monday, a monitor said.

The city sits on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres west of Daesh’s main Syrian stronghold Raqqa and served as a key command base of the group.

The SDF broke into Tabaqa from the south a week ago and steadily advanced north, squeezing Daesh in three contiguous neighbourhoods on the bank of the Euphrates River.

At dawn on Monday, Daesh militants withdrew from the western-most district towards the other two neighbourhoods, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

"The SDF now controls more than 80 per cent of Tabaqa," Abdel Rahman said, with Daesh only holding the two northern neighbourhoods of Hurriyah and Wahdah.

A total of 35 Daesh militants were killed in 24 hours of clashes and air strikes in Tabaqa, the observatory said on Monday. It had no immediate information on casualties among SDF fighters. 

In the aptly named Flag Roundabout in Tabaqa’s west, an AFP correspondent on Sunday saw an SDF fighter climb a ladder propped on a huge flagpole.

He triumphantly pulled down an enormous black Daesh flag, dropping it to the rubble-littered street as fellow fighters cheered and took pictures. 

“We’ve brought down Daesh’s flag and we’ll hang our own — the flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces,” SDF fighter Zaghros Kobane told AFP.

Other Daesh propaganda could still be seen around the city, including a billboard of a balaclava-wearing extremist with three warplanes behind him. 

“We will be victorious despite the global coalition,” the billboard read. 

‘Toughest battle’ 

Tabaqa is home to an estimated 85,000 people, including Daesh militants from other areas. Many families have fled the incoming offensive, lugging jerry cans, packed suitcases and blankets as they marched out of the city. 

But other civilians have stayed on in neighbourhoods newly seized by the SDF, and AFP’s correspondent saw women and toddlers timidly peering out at SDF fighters from behind the gates of their front yards. 

The city is also adjacent to the strategic Tabaqa dam, which remains under Daesh control.

The SDF said their hard-fought advance had seen extremists surrendering in large numbers. 

“Tabaqa is the toughest battle we’ve ever waged,” said SDF commander Jako Zerkeh, nicknamed “The Wolf”.

Zerkeh said the SDF had used new tactics — including the waterway supply line and an airlift behind enemy lines in late March — to kickstart the offensive. 

“These were a huge surprise to them [Daesh] and shattered their morale... Dozens of Daesh fighters have surrendered. There were more surrenders here than any other town,” he told AFP.

In an online statement Monday, the SDF said its fighters had seized three Daesh tanks as well as a bomb-making factory in Tabaqa. 

‘Wrath of the Euphrates’ 

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

The SDF surrounded Tabaqa in early April before pushing into the city on April 24, as part of their flagship offensive for Raqqa further east.

That assault, dubbed “Wrath of the Euphrates”, was launched in November and has seen SDF fighters capture swathes of countryside around the city. 

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country’s war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

The US-led coalition bombing Daesh in Syria and Iraq said on Sunday that its strikes had unintentionally killed 352 civilians since the intervention began in 2014.

From November to early March, coalition strikes killed 45 civilians, it said.

Critics say the real total number of civilian deaths is much higher than the tally reported by the US military. The coalition says Daesh’s use of human shields makes it difficult to avoid some civilian casualties.