The People’s Protection Units (YPG), backed up by the US-led coalition’s airpower and military advisors, reportedly repelled an ISIS attack on the village of Suwaydiya in the Syrian province of al-Raqqah.
YPG units killed some 48 ISIS members during the fighting, according to pro-Kurdish sources. This number cannot be confirmed independently.
Reports added that this was an ISIS attempt to disrupt the recent YPG advances in the province. However, most likely this was a common attack aimed to annoy YPG forces in the area.
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Earlier today, ISIS attacked one of the security offices of the YPG in Suwaydiya and killed 3 YPG fighters. The killed Kurdish fighters were from the Kurdish city of Kobane and were identified as Ahmed Hisen (aka Mazlum Kobani), Ferhad Haji (aka Brusk Kobani), and Bozan Mihemed (aka Zinar Kobani).
The three YPG fighters, killed in the IS attack (Photo: ARA News)
Earlier this week, the YPG forces, also known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in mainstream media, announced that during the second phase of the so-called Euphrates Wrath operation, they have managed to liberate 2,480 square kilometers of the Syrian territories in the western Raqqa from the IS, recapturing 196 villages, dozens of farms and strategic hills. In the first phase of the operation, which was started on November 6, 2016, Kurdish fighters liberated about 560 square kilometers in the northern part of Raqqa.
“Thus, since the beginning of the battle for Raqqa, 3,200 square kilometers have been cleared, including 236 villages,” Kurdish leaders said on Monday.
