US-backed forces launch assault on Syrian IS capital

In Syria, US-backed Kurdish-Arab forces have launched an offensive to liberate Raqa, the Islamic State terror group's de facto capital and its surroundings. 

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed said the forces are advancing on three fronts, from Ain Issa and Tal Abyad to the north of Raqa, and from the village of Makman to the east.

The start of the assault came as Iraqi forces fought inside Mosul for the third day running



amid fierce militant resistance.The two cities are the last major urban centres under IS control after the terrorists suffered a string of territorial losses in Iraq and Syria over the past year.

The SDF alliance is dominated by the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia, and Turkey, Syria's closest neighbour to the north, is considers the YPG as a terror organisation and says it will not accept a role for the Kurds in the liberation of Raqqa.