Weapons left behind by ISIS fighters.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated the town of al-Shaafah in the middle Euphrates River Valley on January 8, according to Kurdish sources. The clashes inside the town lasted for several days and resulted in heavy losses in the ranks of US-led forces, including the injury of at least two British service members.
Despite liberating the town, the clashes with the terrorist group continued around the town, especially in the outskirt of the nearby town of Baghuz al-Fawqani. The US-led coalition also intensified its strikes on the remaining ISIS positions in the Euphrates Valley.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the coalition launched 15 heavy rockets from its base in the al-Omar oil fields at the terrorist group. The SDF press center also revealed that coalition warplanes conducted 70 airstrikes on positions, vehicles and gatherings of ISIS forces in the last 24 hours.
More than 42 fighters and commanders of the terrorist group were reportedly killed in the clashes and the US-led coalition strikes.
As the SDF continue its combing operation inside al-Shaafah, more and more terrorists are attempting to flee the ISIS-held pocket in the Euphrates Valley before the beginning of a new attack. Earlier, the US-backed group announced that it captured eight foreign terrorists, some of them were from Russia and the U.S.
