According to Reuters on Sunday, Syrian militias announced having made a significant gain towards over taking a major damn on the Euphrates river from the Islamic State. As the U.S. backed militias push toward Raqqa city, forces that include an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters reportedly captured the Baath Dam and have renamed the dam "Freedom Dam". A spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia, the SDF’s key component, said fighters have been surveying villages close to the vicinity of the damn looking for mines and shoring up their defensive lines. The spokesman also reported that "the dam has been completely liberated."