BEIRUT: Warplanes from the US-led coalition have pounded the Daesh group with at least 150 strikes to bolster a major offensive on the terrorists’ Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, a monitor said Friday.
The US is backing twin assaults against Daesh — one in Raqqa province and another which aims to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah across the border.
A Kurdish-Arab alliance is being supported by coalition air raids as well as US forces on the ground in its push for territory north of Raqqa city — Daesh’s de facto Syrian capital.
“There has been a serious intensification of air strikes,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
SDF forces have pushed forward from Ain Issa, less than 60 km north of Raqqa city, into the surrounding farmland and small villages.
The fighting and bombardment has left 31 Daesh fighters dead so far, Abdel Rahman said. The number of SDF casualties was unclear.
Near the front line, an AFP photographer on Wednesday saw US soldiers supporting SDF forces, who say they have advanced seven kilometers from Ain Issa.
The twin offensives come as world powers try to salvage a shaky cease-fire between the regime and non-radical rebels agreed in February to boost efforts to end a conflict that has killed more than 280,000 people.
According to anti-Daesh activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), residents were paying smugglers $400 (350 euros) each to try to escape.
“There is nearly no one walking in the streets,” said RBSS activist Hamoud Al-Musa.
“People are afraid of a brutal onslaught from the warplanes, whether coalition, Russian, or even regime,” he told AFP.
The US is backing twin assaults against Daesh — one in Raqqa province and another which aims to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah across the border.
A Kurdish-Arab alliance is being supported by coalition air raids as well as US forces on the ground in its push for territory north of Raqqa city — Daesh’s de facto Syrian capital.
“There has been a serious intensification of air strikes,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
SDF forces have pushed forward from Ain Issa, less than 60 km north of Raqqa city, into the surrounding farmland and small villages.
The fighting and bombardment has left 31 Daesh fighters dead so far, Abdel Rahman said. The number of SDF casualties was unclear.
Near the front line, an AFP photographer on Wednesday saw US soldiers supporting SDF forces, who say they have advanced seven kilometers from Ain Issa.
The twin offensives come as world powers try to salvage a shaky cease-fire between the regime and non-radical rebels agreed in February to boost efforts to end a conflict that has killed more than 280,000 people.
According to anti-Daesh activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), residents were paying smugglers $400 (350 euros) each to try to escape.
“There is nearly no one walking in the streets,” said RBSS activist Hamoud Al-Musa.
“People are afraid of a brutal onslaught from the warplanes, whether coalition, Russian, or even regime,” he told AFP.
