BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:00 A.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) will be entering the strategic city of Al-Tabaqa in the Al-Raqqa Governorate for the first time since they it the city to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) in 2014.
According to reports from northern Syria, the Syrian Army has already entered the Tabaqa Airport and will soon enter the city as part of their agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the area.
Al-Tabaqa was captured by the Islamic State during their August 2014 offensive in the Al-Raqqa Governorate.
Following the capture of the city and airbase, the Islamic State carried out the massacre of over 200 Syrian Arab Army soldiers that surrendered at the installation. They would release a video shortly after the capture of the Tabaqa Airbase, showing their fighters marching the 200+ Syrian Army soldiers to the desert region outside of Tabaqa, where they were later mass executed.
The Syrian Democratic Forces would later capture Al-Tabaqa during theirEuphrates campaign (2016-2019) against the Islamic State.
While the Syrian military will be entering Al-Tabaqa, the government has already had some presence inside the city because they help maintain the dam that provides electricity to most of northern Syria.
In the coming days, the Syrian Army will be entering several others areas in northern Syria, including Manbij and Kobani (‘Ayn Al-‘Arab).
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