ISIS FACES WRATH OF THE EUPHRATES

The operation, dubbed Wrath of the Euphrates, had begun on Saturday night

Dozens of SDF fighters headed on vehicles towards the front line

The operation would proceed in two phases with troops advancing from three fronts

First, areas around Raqa would be seized. Then troops would take control of the city

But the battle for Raqa is far more complicated compared to Mosul

Syria is divided into fiefdoms. President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, ISIS and a range of opposition forces all hold territories

THE SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES (SDF) ALLIANCE ON SUNDAY ANNOUNCED THE START OF OPERATIONS TO CAPTURE RAQA FROM ISIS. SDF HAS SINCE EMERGED AS A KEY FIGHTING FORCE AGAINST ISIS IN NORTHERN SYRIA AND THE MAIN GROUND PARTNER OF THE US-LED COALITION THAT LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE JIHADIST GROUP IN MID-2014 The fight will not be easy and require accurate and careful operations because ISIS will defend its bastion knowing that the loss of Raqa will mean it is finished in Syria — Talal Sello, SDF spokesman As in Mosul, the fight will not be easy and there is hard work ahead. But it is necessary to end the fiction of ISIL’s caliphate — Ash Carter, US defence secy 30,000 is the total strength of SDF fighters involved in the operation 50 US military advisers would be involved in the operation 5,000 Arabs are part of the SDF alliance 25,000 Kurds