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U.S.-backed Syrian force cuts last main road out of Raqqa
[Iraq News] U.S.-backed Syrian militias cut the last main road out of Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... -held Raqqa on Monday, severing the highway between the group’s de facto capital and its stronghold of Deir al-Zor province, a Kurdish military source and a war monitor said. It marks a major accomplishment for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the multi-phased campaign being waged since November to encircle and ultimately capture Islamic State’s base of operations in Raqqa city in northern Syria. "Cutting the road between Raqqa and Deir al-Zor means that practically the encirclement of the ISIS (Islamic State) capital is complete by land," the Kurdish military source told Rooters, adding that the only remaining way out was south across the Euphrates River. Air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition have destroyed the bridges across the Euphrates to Raqqa city, the British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. "It is a big victory but there is still a lot to accomplish," the Kurdish military source said, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... The Observatory said families brought recently by Islamic State to Raqqa from areas to the west had been forced to cross the river by boat, reflecting the problem facing IS in reaching the city. The SDF confirmed that its forces had taken the Raqqa-Deir al-Zor road. "The road is under the control of the SDF," front man Talal Silo said in a voice message sent to Rooters. Posted by: Fred 2017-03-07 |
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