Syrian Army thrusts into Islamic State bastion province Raqa

Beirut: Syrian troops pushed into the Islamic State group`s bastion province Raqa on Saturday for the first time since 2014, in an advance towards the country`s largest dam, a monitor said.

The Tabqa dam on the Euphrates River, 40 kilometres (25 miles) upstream from Raqa city, is also the target of a separate offensive launched by US-backed Kurdish-led forces advancing from the north late last month.

"Regime troops backed by Russian air strikes and Russian-trained militia entered Raqa province on Saturday morning for the first time since August 2014,", Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.