BEIRUT: US-backed Syrian militias have captured a town south of the city of Raqqa where Daesh ran a major military base and training camp, a spokesman for the militias said on Tuesday.
An alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is trying to oust Daesh from its headquarters in Raqqa.
SDF media official Mustafa Bali said the militias had seized the town of Al-Ukeirshi, some 15 km (10 miles) downstream from Raqqa on the Euphrates river.
The SDF pushed into Raqqa last month after a long offensive, backed up by air strikes and special forces from the US-led coalition.
A series of recent advances along the southern bank of the Euphrates have allowed the SDF to completely besiege the militants inside Raqqa and to press on south of the city.
The SDF alliance, spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG militia, has also been waging fierce battles inside the Old City of Raqqa since last week, after US-led coalition jets breached its historic walls.
In Al-Ukeirshi, Daesh killed scores of its own forces execution-style in 2015 for desertion or on accusations of treachery, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Daesh named the training camp it established in the town after Osama Bin Laden, the founder of the Al-Qaeda militant group killed by US forces in 2011.
US-backed forces seize town with Daesh military base near Raqqa — SDF official
US-backed forces seize town with Daesh military base near Raqqa — SDF official
Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas pipeline project on hold
- The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates
RABAT: Morocco’s energy ministry said on Monday it has paused a tender launched last month for a gas pipeline project, without giving details on the reasons for the suspension.
The tender sought bids to build a pipeline linking a future gas terminal at the Nador West Med port on the Mediterranean to an existing pipeline that allows Morocco to import LNG through Spanish terminals and supply two power plants.
It also covered a section that would connect the existing pipeline to industrial zones on the Atlantic in Mohammedia and Kenitra.
“Due to new parameters and assumptions related to this project... the ministry of energy transition and sustainable development is postponing the receipt of applications and the opening of bids received as of today,” the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco is looking to expand its use of natural gas to diversify away from coal as it also accelerates its renewable energy plan, which aims for renewables to account for 52 percent of installed capacity by 2030, up from 45 percent now.
The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates.
