More than 50,000 fighters from Syria’s Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians, launched Tuesday a major offensive on Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State group in Syria, Kurdish news website Rudaw has reported.
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U.S. Coalition spokesman Col. Steve Warren said that the coalition has “always been focused on evicting ISIS” from Raqqa.
“With the participation of all SDF units, we start this operation to liberate northern Raqqa”, the SDF wrote on Twitter, adding that the push will be supported by air strikes from the USA -led coalition bombing ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
The predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces sought to “liberate” the countryside north of Raqqa, the spokespersonsaid without setting a date for the offensive to capture the city itself.
U.S. airstrikes are thought to be assisting around 30,000 Kurdish and Syrian Arab fighters on the ground, though this has not been confirmed or denied by the Pentagon.
The US military will conduct air strikes in support of the “several thousand” SDF forces, some of whom have been trained and equipped by the United States.
Votel’s visit came as the first of 250 more US special operations forces were beginning to arrive.
He was speaking before Kurdish-Arab forces announced that the assault had been launched, saying: “I can not say how realistic the reports are that such actions have already started”.
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His visit fuelled expectations of an imminent attack but neither Washington nor its allies have indicated they are about to embark on a campaign to retake Raqqa or Mosul city, the other main stronghold of the militants in Iraq. The U.S.is trying to increase the Arab numbers.
