Syrian opposition forces in Raqqa are ready for a final assault on the Daesh fighters who remain in what was once their stronghold in northern Syria.
The militants are hemmed into a small area in the city center that includes the stadium and the National Hospital. “Daesh is massing there because this is the last stage. They will resist, or they will surrender or die,” said the commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in western Raqqa, who gave his name as Ardal Raqqa.
Raqqa was Daesh’s de facto Syrian capital, a center of operations where it oversaw the management of much of eastern, central and northern Syria and planned attacks abroad.
In the hours before the final assault, which the commander said could take up to a week, the sound of gunfire sporadically rattled around the area near the hospital.
Jihan Sheikh Ahmad, spokeswoman for the SDF campaign in Raqqa, said it had captured 85 percent of the city and would announce its liberation “in the coming few days.”
Meanwhile, Turkish forces shelled areas along its border with Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said an operation to enforce a de-escalation zone was underway “without problems.”
Erdogan said the de-escalation zones would be applied in Idlib with “Russia outside, Turkey inside” and Syrian opposition fighters it supports.
Much of Idlib province is controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a group led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 11 civilians, including two children, were killed on Sunday in airstrikes on a market in Idlib province. The strikes were probably carried out by regime forces, it said.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said “military aircraft” had targeted the market in Maaret Al-Numa.