WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters have cleared more than 50 percent of the Islamic State group\u2019s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, according to military officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust over 50 percent is now under SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] control,\u201d said Army Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the American-led Operation Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under U.S. air support, Kurdish fighters have continued to make progress in the embattled city. However, fighting has intensified as the Kurdish militants continue push through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo question they have hit stiffer resistance,\u201d Dillon, who is based in Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon during a televised briefing Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kurdish fighters have faced buildings rigged with explosives, vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, even rigged corpses, Dillon explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISIS has also used VBIEDs to attack civilians fleeing the city. In the past couple of days ISIS militants have launched armored VBIEDs killing six non-combatants, Dillon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite ISIS\u2019s attempts to halt the advancing Kurdish fighters, progress continues to be made Dillon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISIS fighters have attempted \u201cto intermingle with [internally displaced persons]\u201d as they try to flee the city, Dillon said. Sometimes ISIS fighters surrender and are caught trying exit Raqqa with the fleeing civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of those fighters have been caught by the Raqqa Internal Security Forces, or RISF \u2014 a security force organized to secure Raqqa after its liberation. The RISF now numbers nearly 1,000 members, according to Dillon. ISIS fighters captured by the security force are sent to a judicial court in Ayn Issa, Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters are now in their third month of fighting to liberate the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n