US-backed Kurdish YPG forces have today announced that they have full control over the town of Tabqa, and the nearby hydroelectric dam, which over recent weeksz they had contested with ISIS. They insisted the town is now “completely liberated.”
On the bank of the Euphrates River, and west of the ISIS capital city of Raqqa, the city is the latest in a long-term YPG operation intended to “surround” Raqqa, though at present only a small fraction of the perimeter of Raqqa is surrounded.
Tabqa is also the biggest town the YPG has captured in awhile, as other than their capture of the city of Manbij last year, most of their offensives have focused on tiny villages that happen to be in theoretically valuable areas, and even then places with a limited ISIS presence.
It is unclear where the next YPG offensive will be focused, though they have made some limited efforts to get into Deir Ezzor Province to Raqqa’s east, and that might be a logical next step for a force with limited logistics, and an influx of heavy US weapons.
