Northern Raqqa offensive

One of the "emirs" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was killed on Dec. 29 in an airstrike carried out by Turkish warplanes in Syria as a part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, sources in the region have claimed.

The vehicle holding Ebu Husen Tunusi and bodyguards in his motorcade was reportedly hit during a Turkish air operation in al-Bab.

The U.S.-led anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) coalition stated on Dec. 8 that it was facilitating joint talks with Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in order to simmer down tensions between the two parties that are both fighting jihadists in northern Syria. 

A U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance pushed closer to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria on Nov. 8, a spokesperson said. 

Turkey has once again asked the United States to stop giving arms to support the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Nov. 7. 

The United States' top soldier, Gen. Joseph Dunford, and Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar discussed joint strategies against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during a surprise visit by the former to Ankara on Nov. 6, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said in a statement.

U.S.-backed rebels said on Nov. 6 they were launching an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

The United States is continuing to talk with ally Turkey on the role it will play in the operation to seize the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) main stronghold in Syria, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said on Nov. 2. 

A U.S.-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) plans to launch operations within weeks to isolate the Syrian city of Raqqa as an offensive in Iraq's Mosul continues, Washington said hours after Ankara said the Raqqa operation should start after the end of the Mosul and Turkey's Euphrates Shield operations in northern Syria. 

Fighters of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG), the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Turkey regards as a terror organization, will be included as a part of the force to isolate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-held Syrian city of Raqqa, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq said on Oct. 26. 

Turkey has proposed using a collaboration of Arab elements from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) in an offensive on Raqqa and the administration of the Manbij region in Syria, a formula which would exclude the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).