Cook refused to say where USA soldiers were at this time, but senior military officials said the troops were moving with Syrian rebel forces as they headed toward Raqqa. In northern Syria, a Kurdish- Arab alliance also backed by coalition strikes meanwhile fought the jihadist group in its bastion province of Raqa.
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Kurdish and Arab forces have begun a new assault against Islamic State fighters near Raqqa, the group’s de-facto capital in Syria. The YPG is hesitant to drive too deep into non-Kurdish populated territory and want allied Arab forces to take the lead in any offensive on Raqqa.
“Families who have been suffering food and medical shortages over the last months now risk being caught in the crossfire and it is absolutely vital that they are granted safe routes out of there so that we can assist them”, said NRC’s Iraq Country Director, Nasr Muflahi.
On May 16, a Pentagon spokesman says the IS has lost about 45 percent of its territory in Iraq, and between 16-20 percent of land it seized in Syria. They’re backed by paramilitary troops and U.S.-led coalition air support, as The Associated Press reports.
It was the first time ISIS took control of a major city in the region, and the forces aligned with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad launched an offensive to win it back.
On May 5, Western Journalism exposed a lie the White House maintained about the role of U.S. Special Forces in the battle against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
He said Turkey had relayed its displeasure to USA officials in Washington and in Turkey, and rejected explanations that the patches were for the soldier’s protection.
With the help of American-led coalition airstrikes, the YPG has driven the jihadist organisation from large areas of northern Syria in the past year.
The battle, announced Tuesday, is meant to retake that area, Kurdish officials said, but is likely to stop short of attempting to retake the beleaguered Syrian city.
“Special operations forces in the past… have conducted themselves in such a way that they might operate in an atmosphere in which they are supportive of that local force in their advise and assist role”, he said.
Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally that borders Syria, considers the YPG a terror group, and designates them as the Syrian branch of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The soldiers are seen alongside members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a joint Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State that is dominated YPG. “In a civilian building, you’ll find two or three apartments for ISIS (Daesh) fighters”.
The extremists have tightened restrictions on people leaving the city, amid accusations that they are using the civilian population as human shields.
“The civilians are besieged, they can’t leave their city”, said Hamza, who fled Raqqa in January 2014 and has been living in Germany.
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“You will find huge lines of thousands of people waiting to get some food and they are getting this food from a relief kitchen which is not supported by ISIS”.
