Syrian militias backed by American and British special forces last night entered Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate.
SAS soldiers, who have been working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, are understood to be on the ground in a supporting role. RAF Typhoon and Tornado jets and Reaper drones are also in close support as part of the US-led coalition.
Last night an SDF commander said her troops were fighting inside the city. “Our forces entered the city of Raqqa from the eastern district of Al-Meshleb,” Rojda Felat said, adding that clashes were also raging on the city’s northern outskirts. “They are fighting street battles inside Raqqa now.”
Forces of the Assad regime were also moving in, triggering a confrontation with western troops. The Pentagon said the US-led coalition had struck regime forces yesterday after they approached a base near the town of Tanf.
The US said the regime forces, a detachment of more than 60 soldiers, were equipped with a tank, artillery and anti-aircraft weapons.
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On Monday a British warplane bombed targets inside Raqqa for the first time, dropping a Paveway IV bomb on an Isis-held building in the east of the city. The assault by the SDF, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab militias, began hours later, at dawn yesterday.
Brigadier-General Talal Silo, an SDF spokesman, said that the “massive operation” was against the eastern, western and northern edges of the city.
“Today, in the name of the Operations Room Wrath of Euphrates Command, we announce that we have launched the ‘Great Battle’ for the liberation of the city of Raqqa, which the gangs have made the capital of terror and terrorism,” the SDF said in a statement. “We are also urging the youth of Raqqa to continue their participation in our forces to liberate the lands they live in.”
The offensive is expected to last for months. “It is going to be a very long slog,” a British defence source said. “This is just the start. It will be equally as difficult as Mosul.” The battle for the Isis stronghold in Iraq is in its final stages after being launched in October
Raqqa has been in Isis hands since January 2014. It was its first major urban stronghold in Syria and is now one of its last across the Levant. Its fall would mark a pivotal moment in the war against the terrorist group, which is rapidly losing territory. Isis has used Raqqa as a hub to plan terrorist attacks, including in Brussels and Paris.
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Western commanders have warned that Isis is likely to lash out as its territory shrinks. “We all saw the heinous attack in Manchester,” Lieutenant-General Steve Townsend, commanding general of the US-led coalition, said. “Isis threatens all of our nations, not just Iraq and Syria, but in our own homelands as well. This cannot stand.”
Taking Isis strongholds would mark a propaganda victory over a group that has used its “caliphate” to lure fighters from all over the world. “It’s hard to convince new recruits that Isis is a winning cause when they just lost their twin ‘capitals’ in both Iraq and Syria,” General Townsend said. Isis still controls desert territory to the south of the city and has been using that corridor to evacuate many of its fighters east to Deir Ezzor, a city that is almost entirely controlled by the group. Raqqa had a pre-war population of some 220,000. Tens of thousands of civilians displaced by five years of fighting in northern Syria have sought refuge there, but in the past seven months about 200,000 have fled the city.
Activists estimate that about 100,000 civilians are trapped in Raqqa by some 600 Isis fighters, which will complicate liberation efforts. The UN said yesterday that in one day 163 civilians trying to flee Isis-held Mosul towards Iraqi army positions had been shot dead by the jihadists and their bodies left in the street as a warning to others.
Winning the hearts and minds of the people of Raqqa, who have suffered more than three years of Isis rule, could prove tough. Coalition airstrikes in Syria, 95 per cent of which are carried out by US jets, have been key to the SDF’s rapid advance but the civilian cost has been high. On Sunday 14 people were reported to have been hit by an airstrike as they tried to escape by boat across the Euphrates.
