Troops enter Islamic State ‘capital’ of Raqqa in what may be caliphate’s ’ last stand
US-backed Syrian troops have reportedly entered the city of Raqqa — Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital and the jihadists’ last remaining major stronghold.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began the battle to capture Raqqa by launching attacks from the east, west and north of the city.
In an interview with Reuters from Syria, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said the operation started yesterday and the fighting would be “fierce because Daesh (Islamic State) will die to defend their so-called capital”.
CAPITAL OF THE CALIPHATE
Islamic State captured the city from rebel groups in 2014 and has used it as an operations base to plan attacks in the West.
The assault on Raqqa will pile more pressure on Islamic State’s self-declared “caliphate” with the group facing defeat in the Iraqi city of Mosul and being forced into retreat across much of Syria.
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“The coalition has a big role in the success of the operations. In addition to warplanes, there are coalition forces working side-by-side with the Syrian Democratic Forces,” Silo said.
The advance comes amid unconfirmed reports of a collapse in resistance among Islamic State fighters holding seven towns along the Iraq-Syria border.
BEGINNING OF THE END
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based organisation that reports on the war, earlier said the SDF attacked the eastern edge of Raqqa and a military base on the northern outskirts of the city earlier today. The Kurdish YPG, part of the SDF, told Reuters on Saturday the assault on Raqqa was expected to start in a few days.
“It started today at dawn,” Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said. “They have reached the city but they have not entered any of its buildings.”
The attack on the al-Mashlab district and on the Division 17 base around 1km to the north of the city centre followed heavy overnight air strikes, the Observatory said.
The SDF has been working to encircle Raqqa since November in an offensive backed by the US-led coalition that is also fighting IS in Iraq, where the jihadist group is on the brink of defeat in the city of Mosul.
The US-led coalition has said 3000 to 4000 Islamic State fighters are thought to be holed up in Raqqa city, where they have erected defences against the anticipated assault. T
he city is about 90km from the border with Turkey. The United States said today it had started distributing arms to the YPG to help take Raqqa, part of a plan that has angered NATO-ally Turkey, which is worried by growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria.
‘DECISIVE BLOW’
The offensive aims to deal a “decisive blow” to the jihadists, the US-led anti-IS coalition said.
Warning that it will be “long and difficult”, coalition commander Lieutenant General Steve Townsend said the fight for Raqa would “deliver a decisive blow to the idea of Islamic State as a physical caliphate”.
The force, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, has been backed US-led coalition air support, military advisers and weapons deliveries.
The coalition launched air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq in mid-2014 after the jihadists seized control of large parts of both countries.
US-backed offensives have since greatly reduced the territory the jihadists control, with Raqa and Mosul in Iraq – where Iraqi forces have forced IS into a final bastion in the city’s west – the last major urban areas they hold.
“It’s hard to convince new recruits that ISIS is a winning cause when they just lost their twin ‘capitals’ in both Iraq and Syria,” Townsend said, using an alternative acronym for Islamic State.
He framed the offensive as part of a greater struggle against IS, which has claimed attacks in many countries including last month’s deadly bombing in Manchester
Source: NEWS
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