US-backed forces make one last push against Daesh in Raqqa

Raqqa, known as the de facto capital of Daesh's so-called "caliphate" since 2014, is on the verge of falling to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as their offensive against the militants nears completion.

A US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighter runs in front of a damaged building as he crosses a street on the front line in the former de-facto capital of Daesh, Raqqa, during the SDF's summer offence. July 27, 2017.
AP

A US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighter runs in front of a damaged building as he crosses a street on the front line in the former de-facto capital of Daesh, Raqqa, during the SDF's summer offence. July 27, 2017.

US-backed forces battling Daesh in Syria will be in control of Raqqa "within a few days" after attacking the last militant-held pocket of the city, a spokesperson for the force said on Monday. 

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition said it could not put a timeline on the battle.

Mustafa Bali of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, also said that fierce street battles were underway near the main hospital in Raqqa, once the de facto capital of Daesh's self-proclaimed "caliphate."

SDF fighters launched an operation to retake the last Daesh-held pocket of the city after some 275 militants and their family members surrendered over the weekend. The group still holds about 10 percent of Raqqa, including the hospital and the main stadium, which is believed to be used by the militants as a jail and an arms depot.

Activists said those who surrendered were taken to an SDF-run prison in the nearby town of Tabqa, where they are being interrogated before being put on trial.

"We believe that it will be all over within a few days," Bali said. "Those [Daesh] fighters who are still inside will fight to death."

Bali says SDF fighters are marching toward the hospital and the stadium under the cover of air strikes by the US-led coalition.

A senior commander with SDF in Raqqa said that since Sunday night until the early hours Monday, civilians had trickled out of Daesh-held part of the city. The commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that more than 400 civilians have reached SDF fighters "and are now with us."

More civilians are still expected to come out, he said, adding that 15 more Daesh fighters have surrendered. The fighting has calmed down to allow civilians to leave.

"We know there are groups of Daesh, specially the foreigners. We want to speed up the campaign, no more than two or three days," the commander said.

Other offenses against Daesh

Meanwhile, Syrian regime forces and their allies began a major offensive on Daesh-held neighbourhoods in the eastern city of Deir Al Zor, according to regime-affiliated sources and the opposition's Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory said government forces are pushing through two neighbourhoods under the cover of air strikes by Russian warplanes.

The move by regime forces came just two days after Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad's troops captured the Daesh stronghold of Al Mayadeen, south of Deir Ezzor, in another blow to the group in eastern Syria.

The loss of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor would hand another major blow to Daesh, which has lost most of the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq. Iraqi forces captured the northern Iraqi city of Mosul – the largest ever held by Daesh – in July, and Syria's Al Mayadeen, near the border with Iraq, was retaken by regime forces on Saturday.

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