Tabqa Dam

An ancient lake-side fortress once used by ISIL to launch attacks is slowly regaining its status as a key cultural destination, attracting visitors from across war-torn Syria.

Families posed for pictures under the hot June sun, some perched on an ancient brick wall overlooking the banks of Lake Assad, a man-made reservoir in northern Syria's Raqa province.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov has called on the US-led international coalition and the opposition supported by it not to hamper the actions of the Syrian government forces against terrorists.

The US-backed Kurdish-Arab force leading the fight for the ISIS’s Syrian bastion Raqqa announced Tuesday the creation of a “civilian council” to administer the city after its capture.

“The civilian council of Raqqa will be charged with administering Raqqa and the surrounding province after liberation,” the Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement.

Fighting at a dam held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria put it out of service yesterday, risking dangerous rising water levels, a technical source told AFP.

The U.S.-led coalition has airlifted Syrian rebel forces to an operation near the Syrian town of Tabqa in Raqqa province while providing them with fire support, U.S. defense officials said on March 22.