Forces advance on ISIS capital, activists say

BEIRUT—Syrian Kurdish-led forces were closing in Saturday on the de-facto capital of the Islamic State group in Syria, seizing a cotton mill only a couple of miles north of the city and clashing with the militant group on a number of fronts, activists and Kurdish media reported.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by U.S-led coalition airstrikes, advanced as they clashed with the militants in a multi-pronged offensive northeast and northwest of the city.

The offensive brings the SDF 2.5 miles from the northeast of the city, the Observatory said. Fighting was also reported about 3.7 miles north of Raqqa and 8 miles to the northwest, the Observatory said.

The Raqqa Campaign, a Facebook page affiliated with the Kurdish-led forces, said the fighters seized the cotton mill, 2.5 miles north of the city on Saturday. Kurdish Hawar news agency said the Kurdish-led fighters also seized the office of a farmer’s union, a local ruling party headquarters and a prison used by the militants. The agency said the fighters seized about 115 miles north of the city in their advance in the last four days.

The Kurdish-led forces said Friday they expect to advance on Raqqa this summer, following their capture of a strategic town and dam, about 25 miles west of the city.