US-backed fighters said on Friday they were preparing for a final assault on the Islamic State group’s Syrian bastion Raqa, likely next month, after seizing a key city to the west.
The Syrian Democratic Forces earlier this week captured Tabqa and an adjacent dam, a major prize in the offensive for Raqa, the Syrian heart of ISIS’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”.
“The attack on Raqa will take place in the beginning of the summer,” Syrian Democratic Forces commander Rojda Felat told AFP.
She later specified that it would likely start in June based on “military and tactical considerations.”
Felat spoke at a press conference in Tabqa, which the SDF captured from ISIS on Wednesday along with its nearby dam in one of its most important victories yet.
Tabqa lies on the banks of the Euphrates River, about 55 kilometres (34 miles) west of Raqa.
On Friday, an AFP team entered Tabqa and the adjacent dam — Syria’s largest — and saw rows of sandbags, mangled cars and craters from heavy bombardment dotting the structure.
The battle for Tabqa was marked by fears that the dam would be severely damaged and collapse, leading to massive flooding downstream.