DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – An offensive to liberate Raqqa from Daesh, code-named Operation Wrath of Euphrates, was launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of Kurdish, Arab and other ethnic group militias on November 5, 2016.
The Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said on Thursday citing witnesses and informed sources that several days ago, Daesh terrorists started to construct fortifications around Raqqa and were now building anti-tank trenches and mining underground tunnels.
The terrorists have also forces residents of local villages into the city in order to use them as a "live shield," the newspaper said.
An SDF spokeswoman said on Thursday that SDF units had secured full control of areas surrounding Raqqa, liberating hundreds of villages. According to the spokeswoman, the battle to fully liberate Raqqa would take months.
