The Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are fighting the Islamic State for the last pocket of Raqqa, the city in northern Syria which had long been ISIS’s central position in the country.
An SDF field commander had said he expected the four-month operation to end Monday, but the US-led coalition said it could not give a timeline.
The Kurdish outlet Hawar News said the al-Naim and Dele roundabouts in the east of Raqqa were taken on Monday, claiming 11 ISIS fighters were killed and 37 captured.
SDF spokesman Mostafa Bali said battles continued around the national hospital and stadium.
The Baghdad spokesman for the US-led coalition, Col. Ryan Dillon, told reporters, “We have conducted some [ai] strikes in the last 24 hours, but I suspect that that will pick up here very soon with the SDF advancing into the final remaining areas of the city.”
After a convoy of ISIS fighters and their families moved out on Saturday night, only about 200 to 300 ISIS personnel remain in Raqqa, held by the group since late 2013.
