syrias tabqa a strategic prize
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Nearby dam is the country's largest

Syria's Tabqa: a strategic prize

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Syria's Tabqa: a strategic prize

A Syrian Arab Red Crescent member is seen
Beirut - Arab Today

Syria's Tabqa, which US-backed forces entered Monday, is doubly strategic: it lies on the road to the Islamic State group's Raqa bastion and the nearby dam is the country's largest.

Tabqa is both the name of the town and the dam and capturing both would allow the US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to advance on Raqa.

The de facto Syrian capital of IS's self-proclaimed "caliphate" is about 55 kilometres (34 miles) to the east of Tabqa in northern Raqa province.

On Monday the SDF, who are supported by US-led coalition air strikes and special forces advisers on the ground, penetrated Tabqa, overrunning territory in the town's south.

Tabqa's population has dwindled from 250,000 before Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 to 75,000.

In addition around 10,000 jihadists and their families who have come from Arab countries, Europe, Australia and the United States now live in Tabqa, which serves as an important IS command base and houses the group's main prison.

The dam is built on the 2,800-kilometre-long (more than 1,700-mile-long) Euphrates River, which flows from Turkey through northern Syria and east into Iraq.

It is 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles) long, 60 metres (about 200 feet) high and 512 metres (1,680 feet) wide at its base.

- Out of service  - 

Its reservoir, Lake Assad, stretches along 50 kilometres (30 miles) and covers a surface of 630 square kilometres (240 square miles). Its total capacity is 12 billion cubic metres (around 420 billion cubic feet) of water, making it Syria's main reserve.

The dam fell into the hands of Syrian rebels in February 2013, before IS seized control of Raqa and its eponymous province in early 2014.

The facility went out of service in late March after bomb damage to its power station, risking rising water levels.

The UN's humanitarian coordination agency OCHA warned at the time that damage to the dam "could lead to massive scale flooding across Raqa and as far away as Deir Ezzor", a province downstream.

Syrian farmers near the Euphrates say they are terrified IS will blow up the dam to defend Raqa, drowning their tiny villages in the process.

- Soviet help -

The Tabqa Dam -- also known as the Euphrates Dam, and Al-Thawra Dam (Dam of the Revolution) -- is as important for Syria as the massive Aswan Dam is for Egypt.

Like the latter, it was built with help from the former Soviet Union, a longtime ally of the Syrian regime.

Building began in 1968, and it was inaugurated in July 1973 during the reign of president Hafez al-Assad, father of the current leader Bashar al-Assad.

The Euphrates is the main source of water for agriculture and livestock in the region, and the dam has given Raqa an important role in the Syrian economy.

It was designed to generate 880 megawatts of electricity and provide irrigation for more than 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land. 

But high salt levels in the surrounding land have reduced the amount actually irrigated to less than a third. 

Source: AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

syrias tabqa a strategic prize syrias tabqa a strategic prize



GMT 08:02 2015 Tuesday ,15 September

No snow: Californian water source at 500-year low

GMT 15:25 2018 Wednesday ,14 November

Friedrich Merz vows to steal half of AfD voters

GMT 06:53 2017 Saturday ,18 February

G20 foreign ministers vow to fight poverty in Africa

GMT 14:27 2017 Friday ,10 March

Hypercars mingle with station wagons

GMT 13:13 2011 Friday ,16 December

Hyundai i-oniq Concept for Geneva 2012

GMT 11:53 2011 Monday ,26 September

Guerrero: We’ve got Peruvians dreaming

GMT 18:17 2016 Sunday ,18 December

Iraqi warplanes bomb Daesh warehouses

GMT 16:54 2017 Sunday ,15 January

26 killed as Hadi forces push Houthis back

GMT 04:29 2016 Saturday ,25 June

A New Generation of Robots is Ready for the Market

GMT 12:31 2011 Saturday ,26 November

Google working on OnLive rival for Chrome OS

GMT 23:18 2017 Wednesday ,01 March

Dh4.2m lawsuit against George Wassouf thrown out

GMT 12:57 2018 Tuesday ,09 January

German industrial orders dip in November

GMT 07:18 2018 Sunday ,07 January

Palestinians mark Orthodox Christmas

GMT 02:09 2017 Sunday ,08 January

Downtown Dubai is a place to be on New Year’s Eve

GMT 06:32 2018 Wednesday ,03 January

A Weathered Penny appoints

GMT 10:14 2015 Tuesday ,11 August

Woman drowns in Dubai after father blocks rescue

GMT 13:51 2013 Friday ,25 January

Billy Bragg to get BBC Folk Award

GMT 00:30 2012 Thursday ,27 September

Causes of snoring in pregnancy revealed

GMT 08:30 2016 Sunday ,10 April

War photographer and mother, the woman

GMT 14:06 2012 Thursday ,26 July

Depression linked to artificial light

GMT 05:44 2011 Tuesday ,19 April

New hope for secretive rare animal

GMT 18:53 2012 Tuesday ,27 November

Radio host suspended over anti-Semitism
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday