Final assault on Raqqa begins

raqqa, syria — A final assault on Daesh’s last line of defence in its former Syrian capital Raqqa should begin on Sunday night, a field commander for the US-backed forces operating there said.

The loss of Daesh’s remaining streets and buildings in Raqqa following its defeat in Iraq’s Mosul this year and its retreat from swathes of territory in both countries, would mark a big moment in the battle to destroy the terror group.

At the height of its power two years ago Daesh ruled over millions of people, from northern Syria to the outskirts of Baghdad, but it has since endured a series of losses under attack from many sides.

The assault on militants in the centre of Raqqa will focus on the area around the stadium and would attempt to surround it, Ardal Raqqa, a field commander in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in western Raqqa, told reporters on Sunday.

For three years Raqqa was the de facto Syrian capital of Daesh’s selfdeclared caliphate, a centre of operations where it oversaw the management of much of eastern, central and northern Syria and planned attacks abroad.

Now it is hemmed into a small area in the city centre that includes the stadium, the National Hospital and a roundabout where Daesh once displayed the heads of its enemies.

The group has lost most of its territory to the SDF and to a rival offensive by Syria’s army and allied forces this year, and has fallen back on the fertile Euphrates valley area downstream of Raqqa.

The army and its allies reached the city of Deir Al Zor in September after a months-long offensive across the Syria desert, and have since then pushed down the Euphrates towards the border with Iraq. On Sunday a Syrian military source said they had encircled Daesh fighters in the city of Al Mayadin, one of the militants’ last strongholds in the area.

“Units of our armed forces with the allied forces continue their advance on a number of fronts and axes in Deir Al Zor and its countryside... and encircle Daesh terrorists in the city of Al Mayadin,” the military source said. However, the group has still been able to launch a series of effective counter attacks against the Syrian army in the central desert region over the past week, putting pressure on the main supply road to Deir Al Zor from the west.

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad is backed in the war by Russia, Iran and Shia militias including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and its campaign against Daesh has mostly been on the west bank of the river.

The US-backed SDF campaign has mostly been on the east bank, where Raqqa is located, and has also advanced downstream to hold areas opposite Deir Al Zor. The US and Russia have put in place channels to lessen the risk of fighting between the rival offensives they back.

US officials have previously said that Daesh had relocated some of its diminished command and propaganda structures to Al Mayadin as it was forced from territory elsewhere.

The spokeswoman for the SDF campaign in Raqqa, Jihan Sheikh Ahmad, said in a statement on a website for the campaign that it would announce the liberation of Raqqa “in the coming few days” after having captured 85 per cent of the city.—

Units of our armed forces continue their advance on a number of fronts and axes in deir al Zor and its countryside... and encircle daesh in city of al Mayadin.” A Syrian military source