Around 200,000 people have fled the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa, a US military official said, as US-backed Syrian forces prepare for an assault on the city. US Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the coalition, said the refugees were moving into camps and built-up settlements nearby. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance … Read more
The United States on Tuesday began providing small arms to Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria, the Pentagon said, fulfilling a pledge that has infuriated Turkey. The weapons transfers have begun ahead of an upcoming offensive to recapture Raqa, the last major bastion for IS in Syria. “We have begun to … Read more
A US-backed battalion of Syrian Arab fighters edged closer to the outskirts of the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa Tuesday, a spokesman for the unit and a monitor said. “Our forces are 400 metres (yards) from Al-Mishleb”, a neighbourhood in the eastern outskirts of Raqa city, said Syrian Elite Forces spokesman Mohammad Khaled Shaker. … Read more
Dozens of young men gathered Tuesday in a school yard in northern Syria to take the oath at a police graduation ceremony after a week’s training supervised by the US-led coalition. They were the first batch of policemen to be trained by the coalition to maintain law and order in Raqa, as a Kurdish-Arab alliance … Read more
Turkey called Thursday for the removal of the US diplomat coordinating the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, accusing him of backing Syrian Kurdish militia. Washington and Ankara are bitterly at odds over US support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, a group that Turkey considers a … Read more
When Dalal Ahmad heard that the fighters who expelled the Islamic State group from the Syrian town of Tabqa were distributing food, she began to run, desperate for any scraps. After more than a month of heavy fighting, and a siege that left the city in Raqa province cut off from supplies, Ahmad and others … Read more
The Pentagon said Friday it played no part in an unusual deal in which Islamic State jihadists were allowed to leave a key town in Syria — only for some of them to be killed anyway. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces had independently cut a deal with the jihadists that let a group of about … Read more
A US-backed alliance will launch their final assault on ISIS’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa in June, two commanders from the force have said. Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Rojda Felat said: ‘The attack on Raqqa will take place in the beginning of the summer.’ She later specified that it would likely start in June based … Read more
A US-backed alliance will launch their final assault on ISIS’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa in June, two commanders from the force have said. Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Rojda Felat said: ‘The attack on Raqa will take place in the beginning of the summer.’ She later specified that it would likely start in June based … Read more
US-backed fighters said Friday they were preparing for a final assault on the Islamic State group’s Syrian bastion Raqa, likely next month, after seizing a key city to the west. The Syrian Democratic Forces earlier this week captured Tabqa and an adjacent dam, a major prize in the offensive for Raqa, the Syrian heart of … Read more
A US-backed alliance of Arabs and Kurds will launch their final assault on the Islamic State group’s Syrian bastion Raqa in early summer, two commanders from the force said Friday. “The attack on Raqa will take place in the beginning of the summer,” Syrian Democratic Forces commander Rojda Felat told AFP. She later specified that … Read more
US-backed fighters hunted for jihadist holdouts in Syria’s Tabqa on Thursday after overrunning the city and nearby dam in a step forward for their advance on Islamic State group stronghold Raqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces scored one of their biggest victories against IS as controversy intensified over a US decision to arm the alliance’s Kurdish … Read more
The United States will soon start delivering weapons to Syria’s Kurdish fighters, despite furious Turkish objections, a US military spokesman said. A first consignment of weapons is already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds “very quickly,” said US Colonel John Dorrian, a military spokesman for the anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition … Read more
A US-backed alliance of Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters on Wednesday captured the key city of Tabqa and its nearby dam from Islamic State group jihadists, the force and a monitor told AFP. “The Syrian Democratic Forces seized control of Tabqa and the adjacent dam,” said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human … Read more
Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group in Syria said Wednesday that the “historic” US decision to provide them with arms and military equipment would speed up the jihadists’ defeat. Washington said Tuesday it would provide weapons and equipment to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is a key force in the fight against … Read more
US President Donald Trump has approved supplying weapons to Kurdish forces fighting so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria, the Pentagon says. Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would be equipped to help drive IS from its stronghold, Raqqa, a spokeswoman said. The US was “keenly aware” of Turkey’s concerns about such a move, … Read more
Dozens of Islamic State group fighters cornered in a northern part of Syria’s Tabqa are holding off US-backed forces that hold almost all of the city, a monitor said Sunday. Tabqa sits on the Euphrates River and on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa, the Syrian heart of IS’s … Read more
Dozens of black veils dotted a freshly laid sand berm in northern Syria, ditched by women fleeing the Islamic State group’s bastion of Raqa as US-backed fighters close in. Outside the village of Tishreen Farms, 17 kilometres (10 miles) north of Raqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces could be seen laying sandbags to protect themselves from … Read more
US-backed fighters battled to clear the Islamic State group from a final pocket of Syria’s Tabqa on Tuesday after seizing 90 percent of the city, the force and a monitor said. Tabqa sits on the Euphrates River as well as on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa, the Syrian … Read more
More than 30 civilians and Kurdish-led fighters have been killed in an attack by Islamic State militants near Syria’s north-eastern border with Iraq. They targeted a makeshift camp for displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees at Rajm al-Salibi, near the town of Shaddadi in Hassakeh province. The militants also also clashed with members of the Syrian … Read more