Kurds confident they can capture militants’ capital
BEIRUT — The main Syrian Kurdish force fighting Islamic State militants in northern Syria said Friday that it has enough fighters to take the extremists’ de facto capital of Raqqa with the help of the U.S.-led coalition — remarks that reflect a veiled warning to Ankara and also to rival, Turkey-backed opposition forces making headway toward the city.
The comments by Cihan Sheikh Ehmed, the spokeswoman of the Syrian Democratic Forces, came as U.S. troops are playing a bigger role on the ground in the battle to capture Raqqa in northern Syria.
Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, signaled Thursday that there will be a larger and longer American military presence in Syria to accelerate the fight against Islamic State and quell friction within the complicated mix of warring factions there.
The Syrian Democratic Forces spokeswoman said their numbers are increasing with more residents of newly liberated areas from Islamic State joining the ethnically-mixed force, which has been the most effective group on the ground in Syria in the battle against the militants.
“We have enough forces to liberate Raqqa with the help of the coalition,” Sheikh Ehmed said, adding that their troops received intelligence that the Islamic State is moving some of its leaders outside the city and are digging tunnels in preparation for intense street battles — much like those under way in neighboring Iraq where the Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are fighting to rout Islamic State from the western part of the city of Mosul, the extremists’ last remaining urban stronghold in Iraq.
But the spokeswoman’s remarks are likely to anger Turkey, which has insisted that Syrian opposition fighters backed by Ankara should lead the offensive on Raqqa rather than the SDF, which is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG. Turkey has declared the YPG a terrorist organization and considers it to be linked to its own home-grown Kurdish insurgency.
Syrian Democratic Forces’ advances in areas close to Raqqa came at the same time U.S.led coalition aircraft pounded areas in the city of Raqqa and its outskirts, according to the U.S. Central Commander and Syrian opposition activists.
The U.S. command said 13 strikes engaged targets including eight Islamic State tactical units, four vehicles, a fighting position and an Islamic State headquarters near Raqqa.