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Kurd forces storm key ISIS stronghold in Hasakah
Hasakah – Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) launched on Sunday a major offensive on the ISIS-held town of Margada in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah Governorate.The Kurdish units hit ISIS headquarters in Margada with mortar fire and heavy artillery, causing casualties in ISIS ranks. “Daesh has suffered heavy losses in manpower and equipment under heavy blows by the YPG,” Kurdish officer Salah Osman told ARA News, using another acronym for ISIS. The operation comes in response to an ISIS-led attack on YPG defenses in southern Hasakah. “Earlier in the day, ISIS militants launched a mortar attack on the YPG security checkpoints in the towns of Kashkash and Fadghami, in the southern countryside of Hasakah, causing several injuries in YPG ranks,” media activist Payman Mirkhan told ARA News. “The Kurdish forces responded by bombing Margada in one of the fiercest offensives against ISIS headquarters there.” The town of Margada is the last ISIS stronghold in Hasakah. It is located on the administrative border between Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor. Islamic State militants have been trying to fortify Margada in order to protect their headquarters there. The group has dug trenches in the vicinity of Margada. “Islamic State members have dug a trench around the northern part of Margada. The project is expected to proceed and cover the town’s suburbs from all sides,” Azzam Khallawi, a local media activist, told ARA News. The group has also planted dozens of landmines in the vicinity of Margada in a bid to impede the advance of the YPG and allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). “We are already aware of those tactics by this terrorist group,” an SDF spokesman told ARA News. “ISIS believes […] fortifications could prevent our forces from retaking Margada but we assure them that we’re prepared for any scenario.” ISIS launched a similar project in November 2015, fortifying its headquarters and digging trenches near al-Hawl. However, the project was ultimately unsuccessful as ISIS was driven from the border town by US-backed SDF fighters. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces had driven ISIS out of the strategic Shaddadi city in southern Hasakah last February. The progress came after the SDF units cut off a main ISIS supply route near Syria’s northeastern border with Iraq. “Our next target is Margada. Our operations will continue until we regain the entire region from ISIS,” SDF official spokesman Talal Silo told ARA News in an earlier interview. Furthermore, the SDF alliance had seized control of a key gas facility and main financial resource for the Islamic State in Hasakah. The western-backed forces regained control of the Jibisa gas facility, located about 12km east of Shaddadi city. The facility had been used by ISIS for nearly two years as a source to fund its operations. Informed sources told ARA News that ISIS used to produce 5,000 gas cylinders a day in Jibisa to be sold at the black-market. Jibisa gas facility is considered one of the main gas facilities in northern Syria for its huge production that has been feeding power stations in central Syria. The facility was run by some 500 workers, including specialized engineers, technicians and workers. The SDF, which includes Kurdish, Arab and Christian units, had earlier liberated more than 255 towns and villages from ISIS militants on the border with Iraq. Posted by: badanov 2016-12-05 |
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