Daesh feels the heat in twin offensive
Kurd-dominated force liberates five villages before Raqa offensive
US-backed Syrian fighters and Iraqi forces pursued twin assaults against Daesh on Thursday.
beirut — US-backed Syrian fighters and Iraqi forces on Thursday pursued twin assaults against the Daesh group, but experts warned the battles will be drawn out.
The offensives on key regions of Daesh-held territory are the two most significant ground efforts against radicals since they formed a self-styled rule in 2014.
In Syria, an alliance backed by the US is fighting to dislodge Daesh north of the group’s bastion in Raqa city. The Syrian Democratic Forces are a seven-month-old alliance dominated by Kurdish fighters but also including Christian, Muslim and Turkmen fighters.
They are working their way through small villages and agricultural plains lying south of the town of Ain Issa, which lies less than 60 kilometres north of Raqa city.
An SDF statement distributed to journalists on Thursday said their forces had “advanced seven kilometres from Ain Issa and liberated five villages and four fields”.
Outside the town of Fatsah, SDF field commander Baraa Al Ghanem said the front line now lies “about eight or nine kilometres from the edge of Ain Issa”.
“We liberated the villages of Fatsah, Namroudiya, and Wastah as well as several fields. The coming battle will hold a lot of big surprises,” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters on Thursday were shelling Daesh positions near Ain Issa as warplanes carried out air raids. But Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the SDF had yet to seize any major strategic positions.
Daesh was also “concentrating 2,000 fighters along the front lines north of Raqa. “Daesh has prepared for this fight in recent months by digging tunnels and lining them with explosives, as well as preparing car bombs and hiding in buildings among civilians,” Abdel Rahman added.
Iraqi troops backed by pro-government militias have been advancing towards Daesh-held Fallujah from surrounding areas.
As they close in on the city, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Iraq said she was receiving “distressing reports” of trapped civilians unable to flee.
The UN said only 800 people of an estimated 50,000 had been able to flee Fallujah since May 22, “mostly from outlying areas”. Lise Grande said those who managed to escape described limited food supplies, inadequate medication and unsafe drinking water. — AFP