Racca is treated

Syrian democratic forces SDF, the Arab-Kurdish alliance, supported by the United States, took full control of Raccu, the "capital" of the Islamic State. It is reported by Reuters.

“It all ended in Racca, our forces took full control of the city,” said SDF representative Talal Sello, “the military operation in Racca is completed, but now we have to clean the city of“ sleeping cells ”of the militants and mine it.”

On Tuesday, SDF forces cleared the last two objects in Racca by the city stadium and the National Hospital. It is assumed that about three hundred militants remained in the city from Sunday, when Syrian Islamists with families were evacuated from Rakka under the terms of the agreement concluded between the tribal elders.

On November 6, 2016, Syrian democratic forces launched an attack on Racca . It was coordinated a few days later as the operation of the liberation of Mosul, the largest city in the neighboring Iraq, was deployed, which was controlled by the Islamists. The beginning of the offensive forced the IG to fight simultaneously on two fronts. In early July, after more than eight -month -old fighting, Mosul was released .

Actually, the Arab-Kurdish Alliance began the liberation of Rakka on June 5 . Then the number of Islamists in the city was estimated at 3-4 thousand people, and the number of civilians was 160-200 thousand.

On August 10, SDF said that they surrounded the militants of the Islamic State in the center of Rakka. According to the head of the operation, Khaval Gabar, by this moment the Arab-Kurdish alliance has already controlled half of the city center. In another part, including the old city, Islamists remained.

The number of militants IG Gabar then estimated at several hundred, a maximum of 1 thousand. Basically, the commander said, these are foreigners. At the same time, many of the Islamists with families surrender. However, Gabar noted that the battle will take another three to four months. One of the main difficulties, the commander explained, represent mines laid down by Islamists. Another reason for refusing forced advancement, he called the presence of a large number of civilians in Racca. Every day, a small number of civilians leave the quarters controlled by Islamists, but the bulk remains in place. According to the UN, in the areas occupied by the IS, there were up to 50 thousand civilians.