U.s.-backed fighters link up across Raqqa Zoo animals evacuated
BEIRUT — U.s.-backed Syrian fighters advancing on the Islamic State group from the eastern and western parts of the northern city of Raqqa have linked up for the first time since launching their offensive on IS’ de facto capital, officials said Friday.
Though the development marked a significant milestone in the battle for the IS stronghold, a U.S. military spokesman cautioned that there is still tough fighting ahead before Raqqa is completely taken from the militants.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, under the cover of U.s.backed coalition airstrikes, launched a wide offensive to capture the city on June 6 and have managed so far to take about half the city.
The linkup of the eastern and western fronts deprives IS from access to the Euphrates River — and effectively leaves the remaining militants in Raqqa and thousands of civilians surrounded.
U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon said there still remains tough fighting ahead and that although the linkup of the Syrian opposition fighters’ east and west axis on the southern edge of Raqqa was significant, this does not in fact cut the city in two.
Dillon told The Associated Press in an email that the significance is that the SDF, despite IS’ best efforts, have successfully battled across the entire city from both sides and have joined forces. The U.S. spokesman said this shows the steady progress the SDF fighters are making against IS in the militants’ self-declared capital.
“The fighting is ongoing from room to room and from house to house,” said Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media center. Bali also confirmed that SDF fighters pushing from opposite sides of the city have met up.
Bali said by telephone from northern Syria that the key difficulty facing advancing SDF fighters is to avoid striking civilians used by IS as human shields.
The top U.S. envoy for the international coalition against the Islamic State, Brett Mcgurk, tweeted about the linkup of the two fronts, describing it as a “milestone” that is tightening the noose around IS.
Also Friday, neighboring Turkey introduced new regulations at a border crossing with northwestern Syria, allowing only the transport of
SOUF, Jordan — Thirteen animals that had been trapped in harsh conditions in a zoo in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo were evacuated on Friday to a wildlife reserve in Jordan.
Five lions, two tigers, two bears, two hyenas and two dogs were being released into the Al-ma’wa reserve near the town of Souf in northern Jordan.
The Austrian-based animal charity Four Paws had rescued the animals from the Magic World zoo in Aleppo with help from Turkey. The group said the zoo’s owner, who fled Syria after the 2011 outbreak of civil war there, granted permission to take the animals. humanitarian aid, after an al-qaida-linked group took control of the Syrian post.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after Friday prayers in Istanbul that the Cilvegozu crossing in southern Turkey would remain open for food, medicine and some supplies to go across. Turkey’s Cilvegozu stands across from the Bab al-hawa in Syria’s Idlib province.
The al-qaida-linked militant group Levant Liberation Committee captured the crossing after battles with the ultraconservative Syrian rebel Ahrar al-sham group last month.
Erdogan said Turkey “cannot allow the passage of weapons,” suggesting humanitarian aid has “practically turned into an armament process.”