(Zaman Al Wasl)- U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Monday took strategic al-Mansour district in Raqqa city, such a gain nears the collapse of the radical group's capital, local activists said.
The Kurdish-led alliance said 17 ISIS fighters were killed in the clashes inside the city.
Nowruz Ahmed, a top-ranking Kurdish commander, told Reuters the battle to oust Islamic State from its stronghold should end within two months.
Ahmed who sits on the military council of the SDF said: “We cannot determine the time period in which the battle of Raqqa will end precisely because war has its conditions. But we do not expect it to last long, and according to our plans the battle will not take longer than two months from now,”
Islamic State has lost swathes of territory since 2015 in both Syria and Iraq, including the Iraqi city of Mosul. In Syria, under separate attacks from a U.S.-led coalition and from the Russian-backed Syrian army, it is falling back on its strongholds along the Euphrates valley east of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the caliphate it declared in 2014.
The SDF and its allies have set up a civilian council to run Raqqa after Islamic State is defeated in the city. Ahmed said the SDF “has no plans to stay inside Raqqa after it is freed unless we are asked”.
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