The Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) has recaptured large areas of territory in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa that it recently lost to Assad regime forces and their allies, while the Russian jets continues its air raids on the area killing more civilians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that ISIS forces had pushed government forces some 40km from Tabqa, an area west of Raqqa city that has a dam and an airbase.
Government troops and allied militiamen had reached within 7km of the airport on Sunday, according to the observatory.
Tabqa airbase was the last position held by government forces in Raqqa province before ISIS overran it in August 2014, killing scores of detained soldiers in a massacre they documented on video.
The ISIS-linked Aamaq news agency posted a video showing the armed group in control of Thawra oilfield as warplanes conducted airstrikes nearby. Government forces had seized the field on Sunday, only to lose it hours later.
Russian jets harvest more civilians lives
Russian jets have stepped up the bombardment of areas in Raqqa province after the latest advancement of ISIS troops and committed a new massacre, as 25 civilians were killed and other dozens injured including women and children.
On Sunday, the Russian jets committed another massacre in Raqqa in Tabqa city. Activists said Russian jets targeted residential neighborhoods in al-Tabaqa city using cluster bombs, leading to the death of 16 civilians and the injury of more than 30.
The campaign has prompted a mass exodus of locals from the town to safer areas and caused mass destruction in the Raqqa and its surroundings.
Earlier this month, Syrian troops started an offensive aimed at cutting off Raqqa from the Turkish border.
Troops and militia members, backed by Syrian and Russian warplanes, pushed east from the government outpost of Ithriya, closing in on Tabqa.
