US-backed fighters foil ISIS attack east of Tabqa

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (6:00 P.M.) – The predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have repelled an attack launched by the Islamic State on Safsafeh village, located nearly 6 kilometers to the east of Tabqa (Al-Thawrah).

ISIS militants launched the assault from their stronghold of Tabqa city in a desperate attempt to lift the siege imposed by the Kurdish forces.

However, the attack ended in fiasco as the US-backed fighters held their positions, killing scores of the jihadists.

The SDF, backed by US airstrikes and special forces, have launched a wide-scale military operation to expel ISIS from its Syrian bastion of al-Raqqa.