U.S.-backed forces say taken control of Tabqa military airport from Islamic State

U.S.-backed local forces fighting Islamic State in Syria said on Sunday they had taken full control of a former Syrian army airport near the city of Tabqa along the Euphrates River.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a U.S.-led international coalition, said in a statement they had seized the air base.

Earlier, SDF spokesperson Talal Silo said its fighters had seized “60 to 70 percent” of the airport but were still engaged in intense clashes with the ultra-hardline militants inside the air base and on its outskirts.