AhlulBayt News Agency - The Syrian army has advanced past the provincial borders of Raqqa which is the self-declared capital for ISIS caliphate, a London-based monitor says.
Troops on Saturday entered the Raqqa province for the first time since 2014, when ISIS unleashed its ferocious campaign of terror in the Arab country.
The Syrian Arab Army’s 550th Regiment of the 4th Mechanized Division and their allies liberated the strategic Zakiyah Crossroad at the Hama-Raqqa border on Friday after a violent battle with the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS).
The SAA’s 4th Mechanized Division liberated the village of Abu Al-Allaj after advancing eastward from the Zakiyah Crossroad on Friday evening.
A potential recapture of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in northern Iraq is seen as the ultimate blow to Daesh. In Iraq, armed fighters have edged as close as 30 kilometers (18 miles) of the capital of Nineveh province.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government troops were advancing on the Tabqa dam on the Euphrates River, some 40 km (25 miles) from Raqqa, on Saturday.
"Government troops backed by Russian airstrikes and Russian-trained militia entered Raqqa province on Saturday morning for the first time since August 2014," said the observatory's director Rami Abdel Rahman.
As a result of this successful military operation, the Syrian Armed Forces are now within 35 km of the Tabaqa Military Airport in the Al-Raqqa Governorate’s western countryside.
The advancements followed heavy aerial attacks carried out on Friday in the eastern areas of Hama province which borders Raqqa.
Tal Abyad was cleared of Daesh (ISIS) last year. The town served as a launchpad for Daesh attacks given its proximity to Raqqa.
