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Bloomberg
US-backed forces in Syria have begun the long-anticipated push to remove IS from their self-declared capital of Raqqa.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and its partners launched their offensive on Tuesday, the US Central Command said in an emailed statement. Raqqa was among the first cities captured by IS, also known as IS, and has been a base for several militants who carried out terrorist attacks in Europe.
“The fight for Raqqa will be long and difficult, but the offensive would deliver a decisive blow to the idea of IS as a physical caliphate,†the statement cited Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend as saying. “It’s hard to convince new recruits that IS is a winning cause when they just lost their twin ‘capitals’ in both Iraq and Syria.†IS is also under assault from US-backed Iraqi forces and allied militias in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
IS declared a caliphate straddling parts of Syria and Iraq after capturing Mosul in June 2014. Since then, extremists linked to the group have proliferated and murdered hundreds in London, Ankara, Beirut, Brussels and Paris as well as in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Retaking Raqqa would be a strategic victory for forces battling to roll back the group’s territorial gains, though it won’t be sufficient to halt terrorist attacks, according to Sami Nader, head of the Beirut-based Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs.
“When Raqqa falls it will be the end of IS geographically, but not of IS ideologically. It will usher in a new model, such as guerrilla warfare,†Nader said by phone. “You cannot fight an ideology with boots on the ground.â€
The SDF has already made a small advance, overrunning a building and a checkpoint used by IS fighters just outside Raqqa in the Mashlab neighborhood, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in an emailed statement.
Civilians have been encouraged to leave the city so that they don’t become trapped and used as human shields, or become targets for IS snipers, according to the US statement said.