US -backed Kurdish and Arab forces pushed into territory north of the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Raqqa, Syria on Tuesday.
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Citing what it described as “trusted sources”, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF, which is a newly formed Kurdish-led group supported by the USA, along with fighters from Arab tribes unleashed an offensive on Tuesday morning against IS positions in the northern countryside of al-Raqqa province, which fell to the IS in late 2013 and later declared by the group as their capital in Syria.
“There are no plans yet to liberate Raqqa city, except in a future campaign after this one, depending on the circumstances”, he said. “The civilians are besieged, they can’t leave their city”, said Hamza, who fled Raqqa in January 2014 and has been living in Germany. Residents reported that the Sunni Muslim extremist group has fortified its positions in recent weeks and started laying mines around the city.
Battles outside Raqqa coincide with the intense fight to kick Islamic State from the key city of Fallujah across the border in Iraq.
Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaziantep, said the mission “will be hard [because ISIL] is a formidable fighting force”. It is comprised mostly of Syrian Kurds, numbering at least 25,000 fighters, with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000.
An SDF spokesman, Talal Silo, confirmed a military operation began this morning but gave no details.
Most of the areas immediately to the south of the existing front line, at a town called Ain Issa around 30 miles north of Raqqa, are empty desert, and the forces expect to encounter little resistance in the earliest stages of the operation, he said.
Rami Abdel Rahman, from the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said ISIS is “concentrating 2,000 fighters along the front lines north of Raqqa” to repel the offensive.
“We will provide support to our partners’ operations as we have previously”, it added. In northern Syria, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are pursuing an advance north of the IS “capital” of Raqqa for a third straight day.
Some were wearing the patch of the Syrian Kurdish YPG, calling into question exactly how close to the fight USA forces were getting as rebels move in towards Raqqa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters Thursday were shelling IS positions near Ain Issa as the US-led coalition carried out almost non-stop air raids.
“We have always been focused on Raqqa and evicting Daesh from the self-declared capital of their so-called “caliphate”, CENTCOM told Anadolu Agency in an emailed statement. The group is also being targeted in a separate campaign by the Syrian military and its allies, including Russian Federation.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the TV said the attack was going to be launched with the participation of 12,000 fighters.
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Colonel Steve Warren is a spokesman for the USA -led coalition fighting Islamic State.
