U.S.-Backed Syrian Fighters Preparing for Final Offensive in Raqqa

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed fighters in northern Syria are preparing for a final offensive on neighborhoods still held by the Islamic State group in the city of Raqqa, a spokesman for the group said Monday.

The Kurdish-led forces launched an offensive against IS in Raqqa in early June, under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. The Kurdish-led group has captured 80 percent of the city, leaving IS in control of parts of the Raqqa’s center and north.

“The Syrian Democratic Forces are reinforcing positions ahead of the final attack on the city of Raqqa,” Bali said by telephone on Monday, speaking from northern Syria.

He added that no time has yet been set for the attack, thereby dismissing reports in some media that the “final offensive” had started. Bali said the biggest battles are expected to take place around the Al-Aswad Football Stadium, where IS fighters used to hold detainees.

The loss of Raqqa would be another major blow to IS, which has suffered significant setbacks over the past year, including the loss in July of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the biggest that the extremists ever held.

Backed by Russian airstrikes, Syrian troops and their allies have been pushing along the western bank of the Euphrates River while SDF fighters are moving along the eastern bank. There have been concerns about a clash between the U.S.-backed fighters and President Bashar Assad’s forces.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s military said on Monday that Turkish troops moved into Syria’s northwestern Idlib province the previous day as part of an operation to enforce a “de-escalation” zone that was internationally agreed earlier this year.

The Turkish troops crossed into Syrian territory on Sunday to begin “reconnaissance activities” in Idlib, a statement from Ankara said. It did not say how many troops were involved, but added the force would create “observation points” in the region.

Also Sunday, Turkish forces shelled areas along the border in an area dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants in Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not allow a “terror corridor” by Kurdish militia aiming to link its territories from eastern Syria to the Mediterranean, amid reports that the Turkish deployment could also serve to curb possible territorial gains by the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters.

Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish forces as an extension of its own minority Kurdish insurgency.

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

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