Backed by US, Syrian Democratic Forces say they have captured Mansoura, west of Raqqa
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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are claiming a further advance on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s central position in northern Syria.
A “security source close to the SDF” said on Friday that the offensive, led by the Kurdish militia YPG, had taken a town west of Raqqa, “It’s been around three days that the SDF has been attacking al-Mansoura. Today, from two sides, they entered, and it was liberated.”
The plans to attack Raqqa have advanced this spring after months of political dispute. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) and its YPG militia as part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.
Despite Turkish objections, the Trump Administration has backed the SDF’s initiative. Last month Donald Trump formally authorized the US delivery of weapons to the YPG, confirming the discreet supply begun when the SDF was created in late 2015 to push back the Islamic State.
The UN says about 200,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, and hundreds have been killed in recent months, including by US airstrikes.
TOP PHOTO: US and Kurdish military commanders in northeast Syria, April 2017
