The Battle for Raqqah
- Don Juice
- Jun 15, 2017
- 1 min read
And it begins the battle to retake the ISIS capital of Raqqa. As the Mosul operation winds down to its final hours, we see ISIS especially the leadership fleeing Raqqa for the adjacent Deir ez-Zor province. The SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) are backed by U.S. Special Forces and coalition airstrikes to pave way for the swift advance of rebel fighters. There are many fronts from the north, west, and east where the battle has been opened up in the city and it has caused ISIS to have to defend on all fronts. ISIS does have an adequate force of 3,000-5,000 fighters left to fight and they’ve had a while to prepare but I predict like Mosul, that number will quickly erode through ground fighting and deadly strikes from above. If Mosul and Raqqa fall, that would be the end of ISIS as an Islamic caliphate and will be both a symbolic and a military defeat for the group.
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