Islamic State (IS) militants captured Tabqa airbase, the last government-held territory, located in Syria's Raqqa province, reports said on Sunday.

According to Director of the Britain-based Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman, IS militants launched a new attack on the Tabqa military airbase and penetrated the facility on Sunday morning.

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Reports said Syrian government warplanes carried out six air strikes against the militants, but IS fighters struck the Tabqa military airbase' wall and took control of its wide areas.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told the media that mutual bombardment occurred inside the airbase while the warplanes attacked the area and IS gathering.

After the battle, Syrian regime forces pulled out and the IS fighters had taken control of the airbase. Militants now controlled the entire province and celebrated their victory in the city of al-Raqqa, reports confirmed.

SOHR said that government forces implemented a regrouping operation after they evacuated the airbase and conducted air strikes against the IS to inflict heavy losses.

Based on some sources, the fighting left 364 extremists dead and hundreds wounded. While 170 troops killed from the Syrian forces and 150 people were reportedly captured.

Some reports had indicated that the recent IS military advances in northern and eastern parts of Syria made a powerful blow to the Syrian government’s lack of local military forces that can battle against the extremists, analysts said.

After the fall of Tabqa yesterday, reports said that the militants’ brutality was on full display. IS killed army commanders and pro-government militiamen while trying to pick off towns in the neighboring province of Deir el-Zour.

TagsISIS, Tabqa Air