Raqqa

A US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is poised to begin a new offensive in the Syrian city of Raqqa shortly, a commander has told the BBC. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been fighting so-called Islamic State (IS) militants in the group's former stronghold for nearly four months.

A woman who was forcibly smuggled into Isis-held Syria by her husband has described the horrors of the caliphate and told of the British jihadists she met there.

Islam Mitat, 23, had been married to her husband, Ahmed, for just three months when he announced he wanted them to move from Dubai to Turkey, according to a report in The Times.

Food access in Syria's battle-torn Raqqa is now at "a critical turning point," aid organizations said on July 31, with markets shuttered and residents depending fully on their dwindling stockpiles.

U.S.-backed fighters have breached the ancient wall of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa, marking new progress in the battle to rout the militants from their most important strongholds, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

US-backed fighters pierced jihadist-held Raqqa from the south for the first time on Sunday, crossing the Euphrates River to enter a new part of the Syrian city, a monitor said, writes The Guardian.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have spent months closing in on the Islamic State group's bastion Raqqa and entered the city's east and west for the first time last month.

The battle to oust the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from its stronghold of Raqqa is creating daunting challenges for aid groups responding to the latest humanitarian crisis in the Syrian conflict.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists waged fierce battles yesterday in their Syrian stronghold Raqqa in a bid to repel U.S.-backed fighters advancing towards the walls of the Old City.

The Kurdish and Arab members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) entered Raqqa a week ago, after months of fighting to encircle the northern city that has become a jihadist bastion.

Russia had fired 4 Kalibre cruise missiles against positions of they Islamic State near their stronghold in Raqqa. The missiles destroyed heavy equipment and killed fighters that Islamic State had transferred from its stronghold, Raqqa, to Palmyra, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

The US-backed Kurdish-Arab force leading the fight for the ISIS’s Syrian bastion Raqqa announced Tuesday the creation of a “civilian council” to administer the city after its capture.

“The civilian council of Raqqa will be charged with administering Raqqa and the surrounding province after liberation,” the Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement.

The international coalition battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) will begin a final push on the jihadists' Syrian stronghold Raqqa in the coming days, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on March 24.