Roundup: U.S. eyes IS de facto capital, threatening IS leader of death

The U.S. and its allied militant groups on ground in Syria are eyeing the de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria as their next target, threatening the group's leader of killing him sooner or later.

Liwa Thuwar al-Raaqa, Arabic for al-Raqqa Revolutionist Brigade, said Sunday that it was ready for a battle to liberate Syria's northern city of al-Raqqa from the IS group.

"Preparations have been made for the decisive step and we are ready with full equipment and manpower for the imminent battle by God's will," the group said on its official Twitter account.

Since early this year, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa has become part of the Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Force (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish fighters and other Syrian rebel groups deemed as "moderate" by the West.

The SDF has been largely supported by the U.S. in the battles against the IS over the past year.

The declared aim of the group was to defeat IS in northern Syria, and apparently stripping the terror group of its self-declared capital is their next move, especially after the recent visit of a U.S. official to northern Syria.

General Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Centcom, secretly visited northern Syria on Friday for 11 hours, during which he met with commanders of SDF and other U.S.-backed rebel groups, including the Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa.

The visit was said to aim to coordinate the U.S.-led coalition and rebel plans in taking back Syria's northern province of Raqqa.

Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said in a special report Sunday that a plan for unleashing an attack on al-Raqqa was put forward during the meeting.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the TV said the attack is expected to be launched from the towns of Ein Issa, and the countryside of the city of Ayn al-Arab, or Kobane, in the countryside of the northern province of Aleppo with the participation of 12,000 fighters.

The conferees also discussed the requirements of the military offensive and the needs of the fighting groups, said the report, adding that agreement has been reached to focus on the Arab fighters who will attack to alleviate the fears of Turkey from any expansion of Kurdish fighters near the Turkish borders.

It said the meeting between Votel and the rebels came just days after a meeting between the Brett H. McGurk, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, and Saleh Muslim, the head of the Kurdish Democratic Union in the countryside of Ayn al-Arab.

The report said the meeting discussed the same issue.

It added that ahead of the al-Raqqa battle, the SDF and allied groups will unleash an offensive against the town of Manbej, which is also controlled by the IS.

The 500 U.S. soldiers, who have recently crossed into Kurdish areas in northern Syria, will directly take part in the battles in Manbej and al-Raqqa, said the report.

Even though the timing of the battle wasn't declared, the IS seems to have anticipated the move, asking civilians in key areas in Raqqa to move toward IS-controlled towns in the countryside of that province, which fell to the IS in late 2013.

Reports said the terror group also went on arrest raids for young men to oblige them to fight among its ranks.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the U.S.-led coalition has dropped leaflets on IS-controlled parts in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, threatening the IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of death.

The leaflets included frequency of a Radio station called "Against the State of Illusion", others included an Islamic saying that reads "assure the killer that he is fated to be killed sooner or later."

"You know what that means, it means that al-Baghdadi will be killed sooner or later," the leaflets continued.

Others included a warning to the IS militants: "leave IS now before you get killed also."

On the 10th of this month, the U.S.-led warplanes also dropped leaflets on al-Raqqa, urging the people to leave the city.

The Observatory, a UK-based watchdog group, said the IS carried out two bombings on Friday, just 20 km from the meeting between the U.S. official and the Kurdish and Arab rebels in the northeastern province of al-Hasakah.

It said it wasn't clear how the IS was tipped about the meeting. Endit