Raqqa campaign

The Pentagon on Feb. 12 requested $300 million to train and equip the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and wants nearly as much to build a “border security force” with them in Syria.

One of two British Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants known for their role in the torture and killings of Western hostages in Syria was aiming to reach Turkey when he was captured by Kurdish-led forces last month, Reuters reported on Feb. 9, citing a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) source.

Washington might cut off arms support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), if it observes that the group violates its agreement with the U.S. and uses them for any other purpose than fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon on Jan. 18 dismissed the recently announced name “Border Security Force” for local security forces being trained in Syria, saying the coalition led by the United States is training the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as a “stabilization” and “hold force.”

Law enforcement officials caught a key figure, the so-called “Raqqa prosecutor,” of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in the southern province of Şanlıurfa on Dec. 30.

The former spokesman of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militant group dominated by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), has said the SDF struck deals with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on three separate occasions to evacuate them from certain areas, including Raqqa.

A former Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant suspected of masterminding a deadly attack on Istanbul airport in 2016 was killed during a special operation in Georgia last week, a spokeswoman for Georgia’s state security service said on Dec. 1.

Turkey has not been given crucial data to help identify Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants who fled their former stronghold in Raqqa last month and may have slipped out of Syria to threaten Turkish or Western targets, Turkish officials said.

The anti- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) coalition forces “knew” about the evacuation of the terrorist group’s fighters from Raqqa, U.K. Ambassador to Ankara Richard Moore has said.

Two militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who are responsible for ordering many deadly attacks in Turkey may have been part of the group evacuated from Syria’s Raqqa as part of a deal between the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the jihadist group.