Spirits high among Kurds as coalition battles for Raqqa

RAQQA: Kurdish fighter Habun Kamishli proudly recalled the catand-mouse game she played with a Daesh suicide bomber in the Syrian town of Raqqa, where the militant group is likely to make its last stand.

“I was standing on a rooftop as our forces advanced. I noticed he was trying to sneak from one street to another to get into the building and kill us,” she said.

“Then I took a picture of his body with my phone. We are avenging the deaths of our fellow Kurds.”

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, made up predominantly of Kurdish fighters, have seized territory to the north, east and west of Raqqa. The city of about 200,000 has been the base of operations for Daesh.

The assault on Raqqa is likely to be a defining moment in the US-led war on Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Along with the Iraqi Army’s campaign to drive out Daesh in Mosul, the other center of its selfproclaimed caliphate, it threatens to deal a major blow to the militants.

Spirits were high among Kurds as they identified Daesh targets on an iPad and fired mortar rounds toward them.

Nearby, a Kurdish fighter listened to communications on a radio. Coalition aircraft had spotted militants in a car and were about to attack. The mood along a Raqqa street was a far cry from the fear that took hold when the militant group declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

Kurdish YPG militia flags hang on the walls of buildings beside names of fighters and women sang patriotic songs.

Shops taken over by the militants were abandoned, with just a few empty chocolate boxes left. Large billboards with the group’s original name Islamic State in Iraq and Syria felt like part of a bygone era.

Kurdish women commanders seemed confident of victory in the next few months.

“We have them surrounded on three sides and many can’t escape anymore,” said Samaa Sarya. “Some manage to escape on wooden boats along the river at night.”

The number of car bombs, a favorite Daesh weapon, has fallen from about 20 to seven a day. Coalition airstrikes are exerting heavy pressure on Daesh.

Still, dangers persist. Minutes later, Sarya received word that a drone operated by Daesh dropped a bomb on Raqqa, wounding 12 of her comrades. Some Kurdish fighters estimate there could be as many as 3,000 militants left in Raqqa, where buildings are pockmarked from fighting.

The Syrians left, but foreign fighters stayed and were busy planting land mines and boobytrapping houses, Kurdish fighters said. Daesh snipers were highly effective, they said.

“Today our movements were delayed by snipers,” said Kurdish fighter Mostafa Sirikanu.