Us-backed Syrian forces break through into Raqqa

Us-backed Syrian forces have entered the old city of Raqqa for the first time after the US destroyed two small portions of the boundary walls.

The offensive marks a new stage in the fight to wrest control of the city from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), which has made Raqqa its de facto capital.

“Isil fighters were using the historic wall as a fighting position and planted mines and improvised explosive devices at several breaks in the wall,” the Us-led coalition said. Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops were vulnerable to car bombs, mortars and snipers at these points, it said, and so the decision was taken to open gaps in the wall.

The SDF, a joint Kurdish and Arab anti-isil force supported by the US, last week encircled the city. It is thought that thousands of Isil fighters are still inside the cordon. The United Nations last week said that it is believed up to 100,000 civilians are trapped in the city as the fighting rages around them. It said it had reports that at least 173 civilians had been killed by ground and air strikes since June 1, though warned that was likely a conservative estimate. Airwars, a British group that monitors coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria, said it believed up to 450 civilians had been killed in the past three weeks.

US Lt-gen Stephen Townsend, the head of the coalition, has rejected the allegations, telling the BBC: “I would challenge the individual from the UN who made this hyperbolic statement that civilian casualties are staggering. Show me some evidence.”

The UN said that Isil had been preventing civilians who wished to flee the fighting from doing so, and said that those trying to leave were at risk from landmines and crossfire. The Us-led coalition last night reiterated its commitment to avoiding civilian casualties.