News
Latest News
news bulletin
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Other News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Beirut
23
o
Mount Lebanon
24
o
Metn
23
o
Keserwan
23
o
North
23
o
South
23
o
Bekaa
20
o
Live
Video
Audio
Schedule
shows
العربية
watching now
La Ekher EL Omr
SUBSCRIBE
Home
Notification
Live
Video
Audio
shows
Beirut
23
o
Mount Lebanon
24
o
Metn
23
o
Keserwan
23
o
North
23
o
South
23
o
Bekaa
20
o
News
Programs
The News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Programs
Documentaries
Lebanon’s Centennial
News Bulletin
The Untold History
Talk Show
Series
Sports
Variety
Other
Comedy
Oldies
Breaking News
Latest News
Highlighted News
Most Read
Videos
العربية
Watch the latest programs and the latest developments on your favorite screen
Shows
Join millions of followers
Who We Are
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Careers
Channel frequencies
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions
US-backed Syrian alliance declares attack on Islamic State in Raqqa
Breaking Headlines
2016-11-07 | 09:41
High views
Share
Share
6
min
US-backed Syrian alliance declares attack on Islamic State in Raqqa
A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian armed groups has launched an operation to retake the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State in Syria, the group said on Sunday.
The new offensive ratchets up pressure on Islamic State at a critical moment, with its fighters already battling an assault by Iraqi security forces on their remaining Iraqi stronghold in the northern city of Mosul.
A statement issued by the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab armed groups, said the long anticipated campaign, called Euphrates Anger, started late on Saturday.
"The general command of the Syria Democratic Forces announces the blessed start of its major military campaign to liberate the city of Raqqa," Jehan Sheikh Amad, an SDF spokeswoman, told a news conference in the Syrian town of Ain Issa, 50 km (30 miles) north of Raqqa.
The United States would be coordinating air strikes with the SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia and has been the main partner on the ground in Syria for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.
Raqqa is the Syrian bastion of the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim Islamic State, from where it runs training camps and directs operations. The group has been overseeing civilian life in the city including bakeries, banks, schools and mosques.
Brett McGurk, U.S. President Barack Obama's counter-Islamic State envoy, told reporters during a stopover in Amman that the "initial phase" of the Raqqa offensive had begun.
"The Raqqa campaign will proceed in phases, deliberate phases, there is an isolation phase which began today and subsequent phases to ensure we kick out Daesh out of Raqqa," McGurk said.
The SDF statement said the operation aimed to "isolate and then topple the capital of international terrorism", indicating an initial phase aimed to surround Raqqa before any move to seize it. No timeframe was given.
CONCERNS
Planning for the Raqqa offensive has been complicated by factors including Turkish concerns about expanding Kurdish influence in northern Syria and fears of Arabs who are worried about a Kurdish presence in the predominantly Arab city.
The SDF said on Thursday it had rejected any Turkish involvement in the Raqqa campaign. The Turkey-backed rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner and the YPG and its allies are hostile to each other, and have clashed repeatedly.
Turkey has said Raqqa would be targeted in its own operation against Islamic State in northern Syria, which it is waging with Syrian Arab rebels.
McGurk said the "vanguard" of SDF forces entering Raqqa would be comprised of ethnic Arabs, not Kurdish fighters who form the backbone of SDF forces.
"When it comes to Raqqa we want a force that ultimately liberates Raqqa that is primarily from the local area, Arabs from the area, and so we have trained many of these fighters and that force will continue to grow as we get to the subsequent phases of the campaign," McGurk told reporters.
The SDF also said Arab groups would be taking part in the operation and called on Raqqa's civilians to avoid areas where Islamic State militants are present and to go to "liberated territory".
An attack on Raqqa has been long expected, with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter saying on Oct. 25 that the battle to retake it would "overlap" with the assault on Mosul.
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said last month that the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State wanted to move urgently to isolate Raqqa because of concerns about the group using the city as a base to plan and launch attacks against targets abroad.
France has also pushed for simultaneous action on both fronts. President Francois Hollande said last month there was evidence that Islamic State fighters were fleeing to Raqqa, and that everything must be done to stop them regrouping there.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday that an offensive on Raqqa should be launched while the battle to push the group out of Mosul is under way.
"We have to go to Raqqa ... it will automatically be local forces that will liberate Raqqa even if French forces, U.S. forces, the coalition contribute with air strikes to dismantle Daesh," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
"Mosul-Raqqa can't be disassociated because Islamic State and the territories it occupies span that area," he said.
Since it was formed in early 2015, the SDF has seized swathes of territory along the Syria-Turkey border from Islamic State and pushed the jihadist group back to within 30 km (18 miles) of Raqqa.
REUTERS
Breaking Headlines
US
IS
Syria
Raqqa
Next
Grand Mufti Derian travels to Saudi Arabia for Hajj
Recommended For You
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Breaking: Israeli airstrike hits Naqoura, reports NNA
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Breaking: Israeli airstrike hits Naqoura, reports NNA
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Shelling from Lebanon hits Western Galilee: Israeli Channel 12 reports
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Shelling from Lebanon hits Western Galilee: Israeli Channel 12 reports
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-17
Israeli warplanes strike agricultural land near Baalbek: Three missiles launched
Lebanon News
2024-04-17
Israeli warplanes strike agricultural land near Baalbek: Three missiles launched
0
Middle East News
2024-04-16
Israeli army detects missile launches from Lebanon
Middle East News
2024-04-16
Israeli army detects missile launches from Lebanon
Subscribe to our VOD
SUBSCRIBE
Our visitors readings
d-none hideMe
0
Middle East News
2023-10-10
WHO calls for humanitarian corridor to Gaza amid Israeli attacks
Middle East News
2023-10-10
WHO calls for humanitarian corridor to Gaza amid Israeli attacks
0
Lebanon News
13:01
Two civilians, including a child, killed in Israeli airstrike on a home in South Lebanon
Lebanon News
13:01
Two civilians, including a child, killed in Israeli airstrike on a home in South Lebanon
0
Middle East News
2024-04-15
Israeli army says casualties from Damascus strike were 'involved in terrorism against Israel'
Middle East News
2024-04-15
Israeli army says casualties from Damascus strike were 'involved in terrorism against Israel'
0
Lebanon Economy
2024-03-22
Fuel prices increase across Lebanon
Lebanon Economy
2024-03-22
Fuel prices increase across Lebanon
Videos
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
0
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
0
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
0
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
0
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Most read
d-none hideMe
24 hours
7 days
Month
1
Lebanon News
02:51
Israeli media: Prominent Hezbollah air defense member killed in Aadloun raid
Lebanon News
02:51
Israeli media: Prominent Hezbollah air defense member killed in Aadloun raid
2
Lebanon News
02:04
Israeli army strikes Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon
Lebanon News
02:04
Israeli army strikes Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon
3
Lebanon News
05:03
Hezbollah member killed by Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, AFP source says
Lebanon News
05:03
Hezbollah member killed by Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, AFP source says
4
Lebanon News
15:57
GCC stands firm: Support for stability in Lebanon
Lebanon News
15:57
GCC stands firm: Support for stability in Lebanon
5
Lebanon News
01:13
Israeli drone targets car near Aadloun and Kharayeb intersection
Lebanon News
01:13
Israeli drone targets car near Aadloun and Kharayeb intersection
6
Lebanon News
09:09
Beirut's air pollution crisis: Diesel generators linked to doubling cancer risk, study shows
Lebanon News
09:09
Beirut's air pollution crisis: Diesel generators linked to doubling cancer risk, study shows
7
Lebanon News
04:22
Al-Hajj Hassan to LBCI: Southern region's damages exceed three billion dollars
Lebanon News
04:22
Al-Hajj Hassan to LBCI: Southern region's damages exceed three billion dollars
8
Lebanon News
07:56
Israeli airstrikes kill two Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon
Lebanon News
07:56
Israeli airstrikes kill two Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use
cookies
to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More