Syrian Kurdish-led forces prepare to liberate IS capital
QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – On Monday, the leadership of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the group is being prepared to liberate the Islamic State (IS)-held province of Raqqa in northern Syria.
Speaking to Kurdistan24, Colonel Talal Silo, the SDF spokesperson and leader, said that although his forces liberated a few villages north of Raqqa last week, the large campaign has not started yet.
“We are preparing to liberate the city of Raqqa, but we have not fully begun because we are waiting for more international support and for many other forces to join SDF,” Col. Silo said.
The SDF also revealed in a statement released on Monday that after the announcement of the Raqqa liberation campaign, IS declared a state of emergency.
“IS terrorists withdrew from the village of Hesha, north of Raqqa, and declared a state of emergency concurrently with the intensified air strikes by the US-led coalition and the SDF announcement of Raqqa liberation operation,” the SDF statement reported.
It is worth mentioning that the SDF announced the preparation for Raqqa’s liberation after the alleged visit of a US delegation to the Syrian Kurdish-held town of Kobani. He reportedly met with Saleh Muslim, the co-leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which exercises wide influence over Kurdish areas in Syria.
The reports indicated that the US delegation also met a group of SDF military commanders and discussed the upcoming offensive.
The SDF, founded in October 2015, liberated several IS strongholds in north and northeast Syria. The first was the liberation of Al-Hawl south of Hasakah in November 2015, and then in the south of Kobani 50 villages were liberated. IS was also pushed out of Tishrin Dam on Dec. 26, 2015.
On Feb. 10, SDF announced the control of Mengh and its military airport, north of Aleppo, Syria.
On Feb. 16, SDF launched a three-day military offensive titled “Wrath of Khabour” which ended in al-Shaddadi's liberation on Feb. 19.
Although mainstream media presents SDF as an inclusive force, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is the primary element of the coalition and outnumbers all other groups.
Reporting by Hisham Arafat
Editing by Ava Homa and Karzan Sulaivany