What happened

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Tabqa airbase from the Islamic State on 26-27 March 2017, a base ISIL had held since August 2014 and reportedly claimed killing about 200 government soldiers when it fell. Al Jazeera described the capture as the SDF's first major victory since US forces airlifted fighters behind ISIL lines the previous week, and the base's location 45 kilometers west of Raqqa helped position the SDF within 10 kilometers of the city from the north as part of the encirclement ahead of the Raqqa offensive. A concurrent battle for the nearby Tabqa Dam saw its power station damaged and taken out of service, raising separate concerns about structural integrity and flooding. The reviewed reporting did not specify SDF or ISIL casualties from the airbase operation itself.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.