The Syrian army on Saturday entered the administrative borders of the northern province of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS) group, as jihadist groups in the northern province of Aleppo unleashed a wide-scale offensive against government troops’ positions.
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The offensive is the third big assault on the self-proclaimed caliphate in recent days after Iraqi forces attempted to storm Falluja in central Iraq and a Syrian militia advanced with USA support towards Manbij in the north near the Turkish border.
The Syrian troops are said to be aiming at the Tabqa air base, 30 miles west of the city of Raqqa, which would give a base to Russian fighter jets.
The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), including the powerful Kurdish YPG militia and Arab allies, launched the attack last week with the ultimate aim of dislodging Islamic State from its last foothold at the Syrian-Turkish frontier.
Russian-backed Syrian troops are also advancing against IS in Raqa and on Saturday pushed into the province from the southwest, moving to within 40 kilometres of the Euphrates Valley town of Tabqa, site of the country’s biggest dam.
The Observatory also had no comment about numbers or weapons, but said at least 26 Islamic States militants had been killed along with nine from the Syrian and allied forces.
As per to the United Kingdom based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the heavy Russian strikes had struck IS held territory in eastern areas of Hama province, near the boundary of Raqqa, on Friday to facilitate the Syrian army’s advance.
Sharfan Darwish, spokesman for the Manbij Military Council, said the USA -backed alliance had advanced to within 6 km (4 miles) of Manbij, and the attack backed by US special forces was going to plan.
“Civil defense teams are struggling to reach the bombed areas”, he said, accusing Bashar al-Assad’s regime and Russian Federation of committing massacres in Aleppo.
The offensive is the third big assault on the self-proclaimed caliphate in recent days after Iraqi forces attempted to storm a city and a Syrian militia advanced with USA support.
Some 20 IS fighters and four from the SDF have been killed in three days of fighting, the Observatory added.
The aerial raids on Sunday came in the wake of Friday’s strikes on civilian areas that residents said were the most intense in over a month.
Iraqi forces launched their offensive on the city nearly two weeks ago, and say they have reached the edge of town.
However, the main push into the city centre has been slow.
Meanwhile, violence in and around the contested northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest and once commercial center, claimed more lives Saturday.
Syrian state media and an activist group say government forces have captured more ground in their push toward the northern city of Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s de facto capital.
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He said there were dead among the SDF and the number would be announced later.
