DAMASCUS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured the key Euphrates dam and the city of Tabqa from the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Syria on Wednesday, activists said.
The SDF, a group of Arab and Kurdish fighters led by the Kurdish YPG group and heavily backed by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, captured the city of Tabqa and the Euphrates dam in the same city, located west of the northern city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of IS, activists cited the SDF as announcing.
Capturing Tabqa comes a month after the SDF unleashed a wide-scale offensive with the backing of the U.S. coalition to capture the city and the dam from IS control.
The broader aim of the battle is to isolate IS inside Raqqa, as a prelude to capture the city from the terror group's control.
As for the Syrian government's stance toward the Kurdish-led groups, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said this week that the SDF fight against IS in northern Syria is "legitimate."
Meanwhile, the pro-government Sham FM radio said that the IS actually withdrew from the city after a deal with the SDF.
Last month, the IS group was said to have withdrawn from Tabqa, but it later appeared that some hardline commanders, mainly foreigners, refused to leave and launched a gang battle inside the city.
