AMMAN/WASHINGTON ¨C U.S-led coalition planes bombed an Islamic State-controlled town near the Euphrates Dam in northern Syria a day after the launch of a new phase of a campaign to capture the militants¡¯ stronghold of Raqqa, activists and the militants said on Sunday.
Activists confirmed reports released by the militants¡¯ news agency Amaq, which said four raids in the last 24 hours hit the town of Tabqa west of Raqqa, located near Syria¡¯s largest dam, at the southern end of Lake Assad on the Euphrates.
A video released by Amaq showed extensive damage to a commercial center in the town but did not mention any casualties.
Islamic State fighters are battling hard to keep the swaths of territory they have captured in Syria, mostly in the center and east, as they lose ground in Iraq.
On Friday, airstrikes in Raqqa hit at least four bridges over the Euphrates River, part of a weeks-long campaign of airstrikes in the province and near the dam, activists said.
The Euphrates Dam is one of the major sources of electricity in the country and crucial for irrigation of farms in the fertile region around Raqqa.
On the ground, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of U.S.-backed militias, started a new phase of its campaign against Raqqa on Saturday, aiming to surround it and sever the road to militant strongholds in Deir al-Zor province.
The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, launched the campaign to capture Raqqa in November.
The alliance of militias quickly gained territory to the north of the city at the beginning of the campaign and has been targeting areas to the west of it. It is the main U.S. partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
The Military Times meanwhile reported Sunday that the Pentagon has failed to disclose up to thousands of airstrikes the U.S. military carried out over several years in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan against militants in those countries.
Last year, the United States carried out at least 456 airstrikes in Afghanistan that were not documented in a U.S. Air Force database, the website reported. The airstrikes were conducted by U.S. Army helicopters and drones.
The incomplete data could go back to October 2001, according to the Military Times, which describes itself as an independent news organization.
The Pentagon and Army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.