Offensive to rid ISIS from its ‘capital’ begins
Forces backed by U.S. have spent months encircling Raqqa
More U.S. forces may be drawn into Syria
U.S.-backed forces launched an offensive Tuesday to drive the Islamic State from its heavily defended global headquarters in Syria, the most decisive battle in the three-year war against the terrorist group and one that could draw more U.S. forces into the fight.
Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend, commander of the U.S.-led coalition in the region, cautioned that the offensive “will be long and difficult,” but is necessary to deal a final blow to the idea of an Islamic State caliphate, which has been a powerful recruiting tool for the militants.
The campaign to surround the city has been underway for months. The offensive announced Tuesday is the final phase, which involves attacking into the city and began with a foray into the eastern reaches of Raqqa, the terrorist group’s de facto capital.
The Islamic State, also called ISIS, has been losing ground over the past year in both Iraq and Syria. Iraqi forces are close to clearing Mosul, Iraq’s secondlargest city, from ISIS control.
“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 in a statement.
Even with the loss of territory, ISIS has been able to launch terrorist attacks around the globe, often by adherents inspired by its radical ideology.
The Pentagon said driving ISIS from Iraq and Syria is a prerequisite for ultimately defeating the group, although it may take longer to uproot support for its violent, anti-Western beliefs.
“We all saw the heinous attack in Manchester, England,” Townsend said, referring to last month’s suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people. “ISIS threatens all of our nations, not just Iraq and Syria, but in our own homelands as well. This cannot stand.”
The Raqqa offensive could draw more U.S. troops into Syria, a complicated battlefield crowded with competing forces, including troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers.
The U.S. military has already placed hundreds of advisers with local Syrian forces and is using Apache helicopter gunships and artillery to support the offensive, the Pentagon has said. The Trump administration has shown a willingness to boost combat support for local forces in Iraq and Syria when it believes such help would be decisive. It does not favor sending U.S. conventional troops to the battlefield.
The administration recently announced it would begin supplying the Kurds in Syria with arms and equipment to help in the battle, including small arms and armored vehicles to defend against improvised explosive devices.
The Kurds are part of an antiISIS coalition called the Syrian Democratic Forces, equally divided between Kurdish and Arab fighters. The U.S. military has not said how many of the SDF’s 55,000 fighters are involved in the Raqqa offensive.
The SDF faces an enemy of 3,000 to 4,000 militants in the city, according to the coalition. ISIS fighters have had several years to prepare defenses and stockpile weapons and ammunition.
“We’re expecting a tough fight,” said Army Col. Ryan Dillon, a coalition spokesman in Baghdad.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have been working to surround the city since November, closing into Raqqa from the north and east with ground forces.
In March, U.S. helicopters ferried SDF fighters to the Tabqa dam, west of Raqqa, as part of a campaign to block the western approaches to the city.
U.S. coalition aircraft have knocked out the bridges over the Euphrates, which borders the city on the south. Earlier this week coalition airstrikes destroyed 19 boats used by militants to ferry supplies across the river and could have provided an escape for fighters.
The Pentagon announced recently that the coalition’s tactics are designed to surround and annihilate the terror group.
“ISIS threatens all of our nations, not just Iraq and Syria, but in our own homelands as well. This cannot stand.” Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend, commander of the U.S.-led coalition in the region