ISIL orders evacuating Raqqa over dam fears: AP

ISIL Takfiri group has ordered an evacuation from its de facto capital, Raqqa, following warnings that the Tabqa Dam upstream on the Euphrates River could collapse, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

The agency quoted the so-called “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” as saying that civilians are fleeing Raqqa en masse.

The militants are warning residents that the dam is out of service, weakened by US-led coalition airstrikes, and could collapse. It says water levels are rising behind the dam, AP added.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the dam is out of service.

US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces are battling IS near the militant-held dam as part of a broader campaign to take Raqqa.