Kurdish-led forces advance on ISIS-held Raqqa
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Syrian Kurdish-led forces were closing in Saturday on the de-facto capital of ISIS in Syria, seizing a cotton mill only a couple of miles north of the city and clashing with the militant group on a number of fronts, activists and Kurdish media reported.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, advanced as they clashed with the militants in a multi-pronged offensive northeast and northwest of the city.
The offensive brings the SDF 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the northeast of the city, the Observatory said. Fighting was also reported about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of Raqqa and 13 kilometers (8 miles) to the northwest, the Observatory said.
The Raqqa Campaign, a Facebook page affiliated with the Kurdish-led forces, said the fighters seized the cotton mill, 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) north of the city on Saturday. Kurdish Hawar news agency said the Kurdish-led fighters also seized the office of a farmer's union, a local ruling party headquarters and a prison used by the militants. The agency said the fighters seized about 186 kilometers (115 miles) north of the city in their advance in the last four days.
