U.S.-backed militias “not readying assault on IS stronghold of Raqqa”

U.S.-backed militias “not readying assault on IS stronghold of Raqqa”

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S.-backed Syrian militias are not preparing an assault on Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa at present, a militia spokesman said, indicating the limited scope of a new offensive in nearby areas where fighting raged on Wednesday, May 25, Reuters reports.

Movements by the fighters in the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, and leaflets dropped on Raqqa urging its citizens to leave had given rise to speculation that they were about to attack the city.

Driving Islamic State from Raqqa city would be a major achievement in the U.S.-led campaign against the group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq. But a spokesman for the SDF indicated it was not imminent.

"The current battle is only to liberate the area north of Raqqa. Currently there is no preparation ... to liberate Raqqa, unless as part of a campaign which will come after this campaign has finished," spokesman Talal Silo said, according to Reuters.

Leaflets dropped on Raqqa city had urged residents to flee. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that reports on the war using an activist network on the ground, says hundreds of families have left.

Syria experts however doubt that the SDF is ready for an attack on Raqqa city. Its most powerful component is the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, and Syrian Kurdish officials have previously said Arab groups must be the ones to lead any assault on the predominantly Arab city of Raqqa, Reuters says.

The Observatory said there were clashes in the countryside south of Tel Abyad and around Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa on Tuesday and Wednesday. It also said the SDF campaign has been supported by heavy air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.

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