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Daesh cornered as US-backed militia makes gains in Tabqa

Daesh propaganda could still be seen around the city

US-backed fighters cornered the Daesh group in a last part of Tabqa on Monday, after tearing down a huge militant flag that had fluttered over the northern Syrian city.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, were in control of all but a fifth of Tabqa as of early Mon-day, a monitor said.
The city sits on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres west of Daesh's main Syrian stronghold Raqa and served as a key Daesh command base.
The SDF broke into Tabqa from the south a week ago and have steadily advanced north, squeezing Daesh in three contiguous neighbourhoods on the bank of the Euphrates River.
At dawn on Monday, Daesh fighters withdrew from the western-most district towards the other two neighbourhoods, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
"The SDF now controls more than 80 per cent of Tabqa," Abdel Rahman said, with Daesh only holding the two northern neighbourhoods of Hurriyah and Wahdah. Clashes and bombing raids by the US-led coalition rocked the city on Monday, the Observatory said.
In the aptly named Flag Round-about in Tabqa's west, an AFP correspondent on Sunday saw an SDF fighter climb a ladder propped on a huge flagpole.
He triumphantly pulled down an enormous black Daesh flag, drop-ping it to the rubble-littered street as fellow fighters cheered and took pictures.
"We've brought down Daesh's flag and we'll hang our own - the flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces," SDF fighter Zaghros Kobane told, using the Arabic acronym for Daesh.
Other Daesh propaganda could still be seen around the city, includling a billboard of a balaclava-wearing militant with three warplanes behind him.
"We will be victorious despite the global coalition," the billboard read.
The city is home to an estimated 85,000 people, including Daesh fighters from other areas, and is also adjacent to the strategic Tabqa dam, which remains under Daesh control. To circumvent the dam, SDF fighters have been using a makeshift ferry to run supplies across Lake Assad, an enormous reservoir created by the barrier.
The SDF said their hard-fought advance had seen militants surrendering in large numbers. "Tabqa is the toughest battle we've ever waged," said SDF commander Jako Zerkeh, nicknamed "The Wolf".Zerkeh said the SDF had used new tactics to kickstart the offensive. "These were a huge surprise to them (Daesh) and shattered their morale... Dozens of Daesh fighters have surrendered. There were more surrenders here than any other town," he said
The AFP correspondent saw SDF fighters guarding a group of blindfolded, bearded men that a security official said were suspected Daesh fighters.

• MENA