BEIRUT – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdish troops have launched a widely-anticipated offensive north of ISIS’s de-facto capital of Raqqa, days after Washington’s top military official region visited northern Syria.
The SDF on Monday afternoon announced the start of the campaign, under the banner “Liberation of Northern Raqqa,” but cautioned that the offensive does not immediately aim to capture the city itself.
“The campaign is aimed at repelling terrorist attacks on Shaddadi, Tel Abyad and Kobane, ensuring the security of our people,” the coalition said on its official Twitter account.
The SDF added that the campaign will “focus on the liberation of Syrians” in northern Raqqa from “Daesh (ISIS) oppression.”
The ANHA news agency—which is close to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)—heralded the start of the campaign, saying it would be a three-pronged offensive launched from Ain Aissa, a desert town approximately 50-kilometers north of Raqqa.
According to the outlet, the YPG’s ethnic Arab allies in the SDF “will be at the vanguard of the forces participating in the campaign.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tracking developments in the war-torn country reported that ongoing fighting has been raging since the morning north of Raqqa between the SDF and ISIS amid heavy coalition airstrikes.
At least 22 ISIS members have been killed in the bombing runs targeting the extremist group’s positions, according to the monitoring NGO.
The SOHR said earlier in the day that offensive aims to control a stretch of territory to the north and northwest of the de-facto ISIS capital, where coalition jets in recent days have been dropping leaflets calling on residents to flee.
Sources told the Observatory that the campaign, for now, does not have the objective of driving into Raqqa.
“Kurdish YPG units agreed to start the operation after they received promises from US [CENCTOM chief] Joseph Votel during his visit to the visit… and after promises received by the [Kurdish] Democratic Union Party during their [recent] visit to Washington DC,” the NGO’s report added.
The ANHA, for its part, claimed that 250 US special forces operators arrived in Syria overnight Monday to take part in the campaign.
Votel, the top US military official responsible for his country’s Middle East operations, visited northern Syria over the weekend where he met with top Kurdish leaders.
Brett McGurk, Washington’s point-man for the coalition fighting ISIS, said that Votel was in Syria “preparing the push on Raqqa.”
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.
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