(Zaman Al Wasl)- US-backed Syria Democratic Forces on Friday took two villages from ISIS east of Raqqa city, the group’s de facto capital where the third phase of major offensive to seize it from ISIS has been announced early this week.
The rapid gains by the Kurdish-led forces come along with a heavy aerial bombing by the US-led coalition airstrikes.
SDF has captured the villages of Shnina and Muaizla in the eastern countryside, sources said as hundreds of people flee ISIS-held villages.
The U.S.-backed militias said it had started a new phase of its campaign against the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa on Saturday, aiming to complete its encirclement and sever the road to militant strongholds in Deir al-Zor province.
The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, launched its multi-phased campaign aimed at encircling and ultimately capturing Raqqa in November.
The first phase targeted areas north of Raqqa city. The second phase, targeting areas to the west of the city, is ongoing, with SDF forces yet to capture the Islamic State-held Euphrates dam.
U.S. support for the SDF has been a point of tension with NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group that has fought a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.
The rapid gains by the Kurdish-led forces come along with a heavy aerial bombing by the US-led coalition airstrikes.
SDF has captured the villages of Shnina and Muaizla in the eastern countryside, sources said as hundreds of people flee ISIS-held villages.
The U.S.-backed militias said it had started a new phase of its campaign against the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa on Saturday, aiming to complete its encirclement and sever the road to militant strongholds in Deir al-Zor province.
The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, launched its multi-phased campaign aimed at encircling and ultimately capturing Raqqa in November.
The first phase targeted areas north of Raqqa city. The second phase, targeting areas to the west of the city, is ongoing, with SDF forces yet to capture the Islamic State-held Euphrates dam.
U.S. support for the SDF has been a point of tension with NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group that has fought a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.
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