U.S.-led coalition strikes pro-Assad forces in Syria

A U.S. commander said the battle will be long and difficult, but success would deliver a decisive blow to the idea of the Islamic State as a physical caliphate.

The Pentagon reported Tuesday that the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State extremist group struck what it called pro-government forces in Syria.

The statement said the attack occurred Tuesday after forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad entered an area near a coalition base in southern Syria with a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, other vehicles and more than 60 soldiers.

The statement said the pro-Assad forces ignored several coalition warnings.

The Pentagon didn’t further identify the targeted forces.

In recent weeks, officials have complained about various militants refusing to leave an area near Tanf, Syria, near the country’s southern border. The U.S. and its partners train Syrian rebels there to fight the Islamic State.

The coalition struck similarly described forces in the area last month.

The incident came as a U.S.-backed Syrian force began an offensive to capture the northern city of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self-declared capital, after months of clearing operations. A U.S. commander said the battle will be long and difficult, but success would deliver a decisive blow to the idea of the Islamic State as a physical caliphate.

By early afternoon, opposition activists said, U.S.backed fighters were trying to break into the city from the east, triggering intense clashes.

Raqqa was among the first cities captured by the Islamic State, in January 2014, and has been the home of some of the group’s most prominent leaders.

Talal Sillo, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, told reporters that operations have begun in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition.

“We declare today the beginning of the great battle to liberate the city of Raqqa, the alleged capital of terrorism and terrorists,” Sillo said at a news conference held in northern Syria. “Morale is high, and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete, in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition.”

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters began advancing toward Raqqa in November, capturing wide areas of northern Syria from the extremists. Last week, they reached the northern and eastern gates of the city after intense clashes under the cover of U.S.-led airstrikes.

Raqqa is currently cut off from the east, north and west, and opposition activists have reported intense shelling and airstrikes on the city since Monday night, which killed at least 12 people.

Islamic State militants are not expected to give up easily. Iraqi forces launched an offensive to capture the northern city of Mosul, the largest held by the Islamic State, in October, and heavy fighting is still occurring there.

Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the offensives against Mosul and Raqqa are hurting the Islamic State’s prestige and ability to recruit new loyalists.

“It’s hard to convince new recruits that ISIS is a winning cause when they just lost their twin ‘capitals’ in both Iraq and Syria,” Townsend said, referring to the Islamic State by an acronym.

He said U.S.-led coalition forces will continue to support the Syrian Democratic Forces in Raqqa, providing equipment, training, intelligence and logistics as well as precision firepower.

“We all saw the heinous attack in Manchester, England,” said Townsend, referring to a bombing that killed 22 people last month and was claimed by the Islamic State. “ISIS threatens all of our nations, not just Iraq and Syria, but in our own homelands as well. This cannot stand.”

“The [coalition] and our partner forces are steadily dismantling the physical caliphate of ISIS,” Townsend said. “Once ISIS is defeated in both Mosul and [Raqqa], there will still be a lot of hard fighting ahead, but this [coalition] is strong and committed to the complete annihilation of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria.”

The Syrian Democratic Forces has said that once Raqqa is retaken, it will be turned over to a representative body of local civilians who will provide security and governance, Townsend added.

The Islamic State stormed across large areas in Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring an Islamic caliphate. But it has lost much of that territory over the past two years after grueling campaigns by an array of Syrian and Iraqi forces.

The Islamic State has been fortifying its positions in Raqqa for months, setting up barriers and hanging sheets of cloth over main streets to provide cover from warplanes. A belt of land mines and militant checkpoints circles the city.