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| From the front line in Raqqa: Isis to lose Syrian 'capital' in days after 'surprise attack' by US-backed forces | From the front line in Raqqa: Isis to lose Syrian 'capital' in days after 'surprise attack' by US-backed forces |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| “Five minutes until the next strike, in Rameylah,” a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander says into her walkie-talkie, repeating the coordinates twice. “Four minutes. Be careful!” | “Five minutes until the next strike, in Rameylah,” a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander says into her walkie-talkie, repeating the coordinates twice. “Four minutes. Be careful!” |
| Three minutes and 40 seconds later – slightly ahead of schedule – a loud thud shakes the windows of the civilian house which serves as an interim SDF base in a west Raqqa suburb. A US-led coalition bomb hits its target in an Isis-held neighbourhood two kilometres away. | Three minutes and 40 seconds later – slightly ahead of schedule – a loud thud shakes the windows of the civilian house which serves as an interim SDF base in a west Raqqa suburb. A US-led coalition bomb hits its target in an Isis-held neighbourhood two kilometres away. |
| While every so often a flurry of air strikes or the whine of a Apache helicopter punctures the hot, heavy air, Raqqa’s front line is for the most part very quiet. | While every so often a flurry of air strikes or the whine of a Apache helicopter punctures the hot, heavy air, Raqqa’s front line is for the most part very quiet. |
| As the SDF advance has slowed to a house-by-house battle, Kurdish YPG (male) and YPJ (female) fighting units are stationed in every building along the road. Their main job is to hold the now solid front-line position; snipers train their sights at any sign of movement in the streets ahead, wary of suicide car bomb attacks. | As the SDF advance has slowed to a house-by-house battle, Kurdish YPG (male) and YPJ (female) fighting units are stationed in every building along the road. Their main job is to hold the now solid front-line position; snipers train their sights at any sign of movement in the streets ahead, wary of suicide car bomb attacks. |
| A statement released on Wednesday by the SDF, the US-backed coalition of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and Yazidi fighters, said that 80 per cent of the city’s neighbourhoods had been retaken from militants after a “surprise attack” on Isis. | A statement released on Wednesday by the SDF, the US-backed coalition of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and Yazidi fighters, said that 80 per cent of the city’s neighbourhoods had been retaken from militants after a “surprise attack” on Isis. |
| The overnight offensive had recaptured grain silos to the north of the city’s outskirts and opened a new front, which top command said it considered “the final stages” of Operation Euphrates Wrath. | The overnight offensive had recaptured grain silos to the north of the city’s outskirts and opened a new front, which top command said it considered “the final stages” of Operation Euphrates Wrath. |
| Several soldiers on the front told The Independent they believed the campaign to free Raqqa from three years of Isis rule – which began in earnest in June – will end in the next week or two. | Several soldiers on the front told The Independent they believed the campaign to free Raqqa from three years of Isis rule – which began in earnest in June – will end in the next week or two. |
| It is not clear how many militants are left in the city. A month ago it was estimated less than 1,000 remain, and that most commanders and other important figures have already fled to the jihadists’ last strongholds in the eastern desert. | It is not clear how many militants are left in the city. A month ago it was estimated less than 1,000 remain, and that most commanders and other important figures have already fled to the jihadists’ last strongholds in the eastern desert. |
| Snipers and improvised explosive devices, hundreds of which have been hidden on the roads and inside houses, have been responsible for the majority of recent casualties, rather than Isis counter-offensives. | Snipers and improvised explosive devices, hundreds of which have been hidden on the roads and inside houses, have been responsible for the majority of recent casualties, rather than Isis counter-offensives. |
| One soldier, who asked not to be named, said they had witnessed a member of the SDF be rushed to a field hospital, foot blown off and shin bone protruding from his fatigues, after he apparently entered a civilian home to try and loot it. | One soldier, who asked not to be named, said they had witnessed a member of the SDF be rushed to a field hospital, foot blown off and shin bone protruding from his fatigues, after he apparently entered a civilian home to try and loot it. |
| The Pentagon says the SDF numbers 40,000 troops, but they are for the most part a quickly trained and inexperienced army, and the bonds holding its various Kurdish, Arab and other component units together are not strong. | The Pentagon says the SDF numbers 40,000 troops, but they are for the most part a quickly trained and inexperienced army, and the bonds holding its various Kurdish, Arab and other component units together are not strong. |
| Many recruits are clearly younger than the official joining age of 18. On a ruined street where a lamp post lays across one side of the road, a pick-up truck carrying about a dozen boys – all grinning, all gripping Kalashnikov rifles – speeds past, stirring up the dust and ash which now coats everything in the city. | Many recruits are clearly younger than the official joining age of 18. On a ruined street where a lamp post lays across one side of the road, a pick-up truck carrying about a dozen boys – all grinning, all gripping Kalashnikov rifles – speeds past, stirring up the dust and ash which now coats everything in the city. |
| They face an enemy which is willing to fight to the death. | They face an enemy which is willing to fight to the death. |
| “Of course they’re young,” says Darsim Ezetran, a member of the YJS, the Yazidi women fighters, who at 26 is the oldest in her unit. “All the older ones have been killed already.” | “Of course they’re young,” says Darsim Ezetran, a member of the YJS, the Yazidi women fighters, who at 26 is the oldest in her unit. “All the older ones have been killed already.” |
| At a mosque being used as a temporary shelter for internally displaced persons fleeing the fighting, young children guzzle bottle after bottle of water in the 40C heat. | At a mosque being used as a temporary shelter for internally displaced persons fleeing the fighting, young children guzzle bottle after bottle of water in the 40C heat. |
| Those who have made it out are grateful to the SDF. “They found us, they guided us here,” says 73-year-old Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. He hobbled the deadly 700m from his home past the front line with a false foot, lost during the fighting for Raqqa between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Free Syrian Army rebels four years ago. | Those who have made it out are grateful to the SDF. “They found us, they guided us here,” says 73-year-old Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. He hobbled the deadly 700m from his home past the front line with a false foot, lost during the fighting for Raqqa between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Free Syrian Army rebels four years ago. |
| At least 300,000 Raqqawis have fled in recent weeks, braving Isis as well as US-led coalition bombing. But 15,000 more are still trapped inside the city’s dense central neighbourhoods with very little food and water. | |
| A huge convoy of trucks that have driven all the way from northern Iraq – through the self-declared autonomous Kurdish region of northern Syria and into the Arab Raqqa Governorate – rumble past, carrying brand new Humvees and other reinforcements for the US special forces present in the city. | A huge convoy of trucks that have driven all the way from northern Iraq – through the self-declared autonomous Kurdish region of northern Syria and into the Arab Raqqa Governorate – rumble past, carrying brand new Humvees and other reinforcements for the US special forces present in the city. |
| “Do they carry water, bulldozers, will they stay to help rebuild?” Abdullah asks. “Daesh [Isis] will be defeated here soon. But what happens next?" | “Do they carry water, bulldozers, will they stay to help rebuild?” Abdullah asks. “Daesh [Isis] will be defeated here soon. But what happens next?" |