WASHINGTON DC – Anti-Islamic State (ISIS) forces, supported by coalition air power, took control of the strategic town of Tal Hamis in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), pushing the militants out of dozens of villages, US military officials said.
“Forces opposing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, supported by coalition airstrikes, seized key terrain late last week in northeastern Syria near Tal Hamis,” a statement on the Pentagon website said Tuesday.
It said that the control of Tal Hamis denies ISIS the ability to move personnel and materials freely between Syria and Iraq, including “critical portions of Route 47 in Syria, a key ISIL communications and supply line leading into Iraq.”
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) launched a military operation two weeks ago to clear Tal Hamis in the canton of Cizire. The group said the mission was successfully accomplished yesterday.
“An area of 2,940 square kilometers, which involves 390 villages and hundreds of hamlets, has been cleansed of ISIS gangs and liberated as a result of the operation, a YPG statement said.
“A total of 245 ISIS members were killed and these, the corpses of 134 were seized during the 17-day operation. Five other members of the gangs were captured alive,” it added.
Coalition forces used aerial bombardments in support of the Kurdish forces during the three weeks-long military operations, “destroying multiple ISIL weapons systems, vehicles and fighting positions,” it said, referring to ISIS by its other acronym.
According to the US Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve commander, the success of the military operations showed the strength of the Kurdish forces against ISIS, supported by airstrikes.
“This operation demonstrated the ability of anti-ISIL forces to further degrade Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIS) influence in this region,” Army Lt. Gen. James L. Terry was quoted as saying by the Pentagon.
“The determination of these anti-ISIL forces and our precision airstrikes enabled us to deny Daesh this key terrain in Syria,” it quoted him as saying.
.webp&w=3840&q=75)
