ISIL-held town in Syria comes under US-led jets

Located west of the terrorists’ de facto capital Raqqah, the town of Tabqa was raided four times in the course of 24 hours, Reuters reported Sunday, confirming reports by the Daesh-affiliated Amaq news agency.

It was not immediately clear how many lives were lost due to the raids but extensive damage could be seen in a video released by the news agency, showing the commercial center of the town.

The raids followed the Saturday launch of a new phase of a campaign to capture Raqqah, by the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the West.

The militants are aiming to surround Raqqah and cut its routes to Daesh strongholds in Dayr al-Zawr.

The SDF militants have been trying to capture the Daesh-held city since last November but to no avail so far.

On Friday, air strikes in Raqqah hit at least four bridges over the Euphrates River.

The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be the Daesh terrorists inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate. The coalition has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of destroying Daesh.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.

KD