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U.S.-backed rebels capture areas north of IS de facto capital in Syria

Xinhua, May 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) rebels captured five farmlands and a town in the northern countryside of the Islamic State (IS) de facto capital of al-Raqqa, a monitor group reported Wednesday.

The areas captured by the SDF are located in the countryside of the town of Ein Issa in the al-Raqqa northern countryside, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The group, which combines Kurdish and Arab fighters, aims to capture a triangle in northern al-Raqqa between the border city of Tal Abyyad, the Division 17 base and Ein Issa, said the Observatory.

It stressed that the initial aim of the recently declared battle against the IS by the SDF is controlling the triangle between the three aforementioned areas, not to push deeper into the city itself.

The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the battle for al-Raqqa could be long as the IS has prepared itself for the battle amid a continues wave of displacement from the citizens of al-Raqqa toward other IS-controlled areas in al-Raqqa countryside and possibly toward the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, much of which is under the IS control, except the city, which is still under the government control.

The SDF and allied militant groups unleashed a military campaign against the northern countryside of al-Raqqa on Tuesday, just days after the U.S. and the SDF put forward a plan for capturing al-Raqqa.

The Observatory said over 20 IS fighters were killed on the first day of the battles in northern al-Raqqa.

The fighters started moving toward northern al-Raqqa from the southern countryside of the border city of Tal Abyyad and the countryside of Ein Issa in the northwestern rim of al-Raqqa, which fell to the IS in late 2013 and later declared by the group as their capital in Syria.

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

The visit was said to aim to coordinate the U.S.-led coalition and rebel plans in taking back al-Raqqa. Endit