Rojda Felat

U.S.-backed militias said they had defeated Islamic State in its former capital Raqqa on Tuesday, raising their flags over the jihadist group's last footholds in the city after a four-month battle, reported Reuters. 

Photo: Al-Alam

The mainly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the start of a long-awaited siege on ISIS stronghold Raqqa, Syria one week after the US confirmed delivery of arms to it.

U.S.-backed forces launched a major move to take Raqqa, the headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria on June 6, with Ankara warning that it will retaliate immediately if the military operation poses a threat against Turkey. 

A US-backed alliance of Arabs and Kurds will launch their final assault on the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqqa in early summer, a commander said on Friday, AFP reported.

"The attack on Raqa will take place in the beginning of the summer," Syrian Democratic Forces commander Rojda Felat told AFP without giving a more precise date.