US-backed force captures new area near Daesh-held Raqqa
beirut — A US-backed Kurdish Arab alliance has seized new territory west of the Daesh group’s Syrian bastion Raqqa, bringing it closer to a final attack on the city, a monitor said on Saturday.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an operation to capture Raqqa in northern Syria last November, and have since surrounded the city from the north and east while closing in from the west.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the SDF captured the town of Mansura late Friday and the adjacent Baath Dam on the Euphrates River, around 20 kilometres west of Raqqa, on Saturday. SDF spokesman Talal Sello confirmed the force was advancing on the western front without providing details.
“This advance will allow the SDF to expand its control on the southern banks of the Euphrates River and stabilise the western front of Raqqa before launching the final battle to expel Daesh from the city,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. “We’re nearing the major battle,” he added.
Abdel Rahman said combing operations were ongoing in Mansura and at the dam to “dismantle mines and search for remaining militants”.
Sello said the advances on the western front were part of the final stage of operations before the launch of the assault on Raqqa itself.
He said the SDF had received “weapons and advanced equipment from the international coalition... as part of preparations for the launch of the battle for Raqqa, which is close”.
Sello said the SDF would launch the attack from the north, west and east of Raqqa. “The SDF has already completed the siege from the northern and eastern sides and is
This advance will allow the SdF to expand its control on the southern banks of the euphrates River and stabilise the western front of Raqqa before launching the final battle to expel daesh from the city Rami Abdel Rahman, Syrian Observatory director
working to complete the siege from the west,” he added.
SDF fighters are now just a few kilometres from the city on the north, east and western fronts, with all major routes into the city severed.
Daesh fighters are still able to move out of the city to the south, however, crossing the Euphrates river by boat before continuing on through the desert.
The SDF is not expected to try to seal the southern route before launching its final assault.
“The SDF doesn’t need to isolate Raqqa from the south, because the international coalition’s planes can target any militants as they cross the river,” Abdel Rahman said.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army said on Saturday it had seized mountainous territory from Daesh to the east of the road linking Damascus to Aleppo, helping to secure a critical lifeline for the government that has often come under IS attack.
The army also said it had seized 22 villages and farms from Daesh near Maskaneh, the last major Daesh-held town in Aleppo province.