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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThis frame grab from video provided by Qasioun, a Syrian opposition media outlet, shows smoke rising as a result of clashes between U.S.-backed forces and the Islamic State group, near Ein Issa, north of Raqqa, Syria, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Raqqa has been under IS control since early 2014; it is home to some of the group’s top leaders and is seen as the key to defeating the group militarily. It has been the extremists’ de facto capital since they declared a caliphate in areas they control in Iraq and Syria in June 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. commander of coalition forces fighting the Islamic State group said the operation to take Raqqa aims at eventually cutting off the extremists from Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have entered the city’s eastern outskirts amid fierce resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend said in a statement that the Arab element of the SDF is “indigenous to the area” and will help establish “regional support” for SDF operations. His comments appeared to be aimed at soothing concerns that Kurdish forces would take over Raqqa, a predominantly Sunni Arab city. Unlike numerous successful military efforts to drive Islamic State militants out of cities in Iraq, the Raqqa offensive faces several political obstacles. In Iraq, a U.S.-led coalition is working with the government in Baghdad, but Washington and its partners in Syria are relying on a hodgepodge of local Arab and Kurdish opposition groups, some of which are fierce rivals. The tensions are exacerbated by Russian and Syrian forces on one side and Turkish-backed forces on another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday reiterated the country’s opposition to the use of Syrian Kurdish fighters in the battle against the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turkey views the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, and its political wing as terror organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Erdogan did not make a direct reference to the ongoing operation to free Raqqa, but said “no one in the world will buy this na\u00efve attitude (attacking) Daesh with another terror organization.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fighting in northern Syria is taking place under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition that played an instrumental role in the past in battles between SDF and the extremists. This frame grab from video provided by Qasioun, a Syrian opposition media outlet, shows U.S.-backed fighters taking a rest during fighting with the Islamic State group near Ein Issa, north of Raqqa, Syria, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2016. Backed by U.S. airstrikes, Kurdish-led Syrian fighters clashed on Monday with Islamic State militants north of the city of Raqqa in Syria as they pushed ahead in their offensive aiming to liberate the city that has been the de facto capital of the extremist group since 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Qasioun via AP<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Central Command said coalition aircraft conducted 16 airstrikes in northern Syria, mostly near the area of Ein Isssa, north of Raqqa, where the fighting appeared to be concentrated. It said that they engaged 12 IS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, five vehicles and two vehicles rigged with explosives. The command said the airstrikes were conducted on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Saturday, SDF fighter Cihan Ehmed said 30,000 fighters will take part in the offensive, dubbed “Euphrates Rage,” and that a joint operations command had been set up to coordinate various factions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S.-backed SDF is made up of several Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Christian groups that have captured wide areas of northern Syria from IS over the past year. The largest and most powerful groups in the coalition are the main Kurdish militias known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, and the Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fayad al-Ghanem, the commander of the small Arab Raqqa Hawks Brigade group, said in a video posted online that their aim is to besiege the city of Raqqa and liberate villages and towns around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We want to rescue the people from the injustice of Daesh,” al-Ghanem said using an Arabic acronym to refer to IS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said heavy fighting was underway on Monday north of Raqqa between IS and SDF fighters. A Kurdish media official in the area, Rania Mohammed, said several farms and villages have been captured since Sunday, without providing further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SDF said its fighters destroyed a vehicle rigged with explosives in a farm north of Raqqa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said IS militants hit an SDF armored vehicle north of Raqqa with a missile, killing everyone inside. \u00a0It later reported that IS fighters destroyed six SUVs for the SDF with missiles, killing seven fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Raqqa-based Syrian activist group known as Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reported that SDF fighters shelled the village of Tweila’a north of Raqqa forcing its residents to flee. It also reported that warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition destroyed a bridge in the village.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Backed by U.S. airstrikes, Kurdish-led Syrian fighters clashed on Monday with Islamic State militants north of the city of Raqqa in Syria as they pushed ahead in their offensive aiming to retake the city that has been the de facto capital of the extremist group since 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1209],"class_list":["post-46782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WZG2W4CTNZFI3BOBBY6YNM222U","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2016\/11\/07\/syrian-kurds-push-ahead-in-their-offensive-toward-raqqa\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ein-issa-syria-north-of-raqqa.jpg.jpg\")
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