DAMASCUS, SYRIA (7:30 P.M.) – On Saturday morning, Kurdish-led forces met up across the Euphrates River southeast of Raqqa city, thus bringing the largely ISIS-held city of Raqqa under de facto siege.
Due to the swift capture of Mustajid Naqib village today, several thousand ISIS members are now fully surrounded by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Meanwhile, heavy clashes continued inside Raqqa city itself where firefights were observed in the Al-Barid, Qadisiyah, Hittin, Yarmouk and Al-Nahda neighborhoods.
Worth noting, US Marines are now providing direct fire support and covering fire for Kurdish assault troops in addition to the US-led coalition airstrikes.
Although ISIS is putting up a fight, the predominately Kurdish SDF is likely to impose full control over Raqqa before the end of the year.
Once this campaign is concluded, the SDF leadership is expected to sue for independence under a confederation known as Rojava. Thus far, the Damascus Government has opposed any opportunistic attempts at Kurdish independence.
A full interactive battle map of Syria can be found here.
190 78 - 268Shares
Be Civil
This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion
Please treat this discussion with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.
These are not hard and fast rules, merely guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a clean and well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.
Make it better
Improve the Discussion
Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.
The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.
Now the hard part!
Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree
You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:
Instead, provide reasoned counter-arguments that improve the conversation.