Troops pause action in Syria for dam inspection

BEIRUT — U.S.-backed forces in northern Syria paused military operations near a dam held by the Islamic State group on Monday to allow engineers to fix any problems after conflicting reports about its stability.

Some activist groups opposed to the Islamic State group have said residents are seeking higher ground, fearing the collapse of the dam could cause severe flooding, while others said people were remaining in place.

Conflicting reports are common in areas controlled by Islamic State, which bans independent media.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said technicians inside Islamic State-held Tabqa did not reach the dam during the cease-fire, to reactivate its main power controls.

Engineer Aboud al Haj Aboud, who was the head of the electricity division of the dam, said on social media that if indeed the control room is malfunctioning and the gates of the dam cannot be opened, it will still take at least a month for the waters being held back by the dam to overflow the top of the structure.