On Wednesday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that its fighters captured 10 farms around Markada town in the southern al-Hasakah countryside. The SDF also said that its fighters killed 5 ISIS fighters and captured their weapons during their advance.
Moreover, Kurdish and Syrian opposition sources claimed that the SDF captured Markada town. However, no official source of the SDF has confirmed these claims so far.
The SDF also advanced in the northwestern Deir Ezzor countryside and captured al-Harmushiyah al-Kabiyra, al- Harmushiyah al-Saghiyra villages and Kasrah, Abu Fahed hills south of Kubar village. SDF fighters killed 20 ISIS fighters during their attack south of Kubar village.
In a related development, SDF fighters captured 4 new positions in al-Nahdah district in the center of Raqqa city, according to Kurdish sources. 11 ISIS fighters were reportedly killed on Wednesday in al-Nahdah, al-Fardous and al-Kurd districts in the center of the city.
The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters killed 27 fighters of the SDF in the norther part of Raqqa city on Tuesday. Amaq also claimed that 13 civilians were killed in a US-led collation airstrike on a water well in the northern part of the city on Wednesday. Opposition sources confirmed ISIS claims.
The SDF is still unable to penetrate ISIS defense lines in the northern part of Raqqa city, or around the national hospital in the center of city, even with a heavy air support of the US-led coalition.
