BEIRUT — Kurdish-led Syrian fighters pushed ahead Monday with an offensive aimed at isolating and encircling the Islamic State group’s stronghold of Raqqa, making small advances in villages north of the extremists’ de facto capital. ADVERTISING BEIRUT — Kurdish-led Syrian
BEIRUT — Kurdish-led Syrian fighters pushed ahead Monday with an offensive aimed at isolating and encircling the Islamic State group’s stronghold of Raqqa, making small advances in villages north of the extremists’ de facto capital.
Warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition provided air cover for the fighters from the Syria Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters formed last year with the aim of incorporating non-Kurdish elements into the mainly Kurdish militia fighting IS in Syria.
The SDF announced the start of the campaign to liberate Raqqa at a news conference Sunday in northern Syria, and the United States, France and Britain said they would provide air support for the offensive, dubbed “Eurphrates Rage.”
But the battle for the Syrian city, home to nearly 200,000 mostly Sunni Arabs and an estimated 5,000 IS militants including many foreigners, could be long and costly.
IS fighters are expected to fight until the end, considering that losing Raqqa would mean the extremist group would not fully control any large cities in Syria, where a civil war has been raging for more than five years.
At the same time, Iraqi forces are pushing forward against Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and the militants’ biggest urban stronghold in that country.
SDF fighters needed more than two months earlier this year to capture the Syrian town of Manbij, which is far smaller than Raqqa.
Raqqa has been under IS control since early 2014 and is home to some of the group’s top leaders. It has been the extremists’ self-styled capital since they declared a caliphate in areas they captured that year in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. commander of coalition forces fighting IS said the Raqqa operation is aimed at eventually cutting off the extremists from Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have entered the city’s eastern outskirts amid fierce resistance.
Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend said the Arab element of the SDF is “indigenous to the area” and will help establish “regional support” for SDF operations. His comments appeared to be aimed at soothing concerns that Kurdish forces would take over the predominantly Sunni Arab city.
