The Northern Raqqa offensive was a 2016

military offensive An offensive is a military operation that seeks through an aggressive projection of armed forces to occupy territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational, or tactical goal. Another term for an offensive often used b ...

launched by the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

-led Syrian Democratic Forces against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

in northern

Raqqa Governorate Raqqa Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة الرقة, Muḥāfaẓat ar-Raqqah) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in the north of the country and covers an area of 19,618 km2. The capital is Raqqa. The Islamic State ...

, in order to prepare for a future attack on the city of

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...

. The offensive was launched in coordination with airstrikes by the US-led

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) is a multinational military formation established by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with the stated aim to "d ...

. After 30 May, the offensive stalled, as the SDF shifted its focus and resources to another operation in the northern Aleppo Province.

Background

On 1 April 2016, Democratic Union Party (PYD) leader

Salih Muslim Salih Muslim Muhammad (Kurmanji ku, Salih Muslim Mihemed, ar, صالح مسلم محمد, Ṣāliḥ Muslim Muḥammad) is the co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main party of the Autonomous Administration of North and East ...

stated that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces were preparing with the US-led coalition to launch an offensive on

U.S. Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

Commander General Joseph L. Votel, the highest-ranking U.S. military official to visit Syria since the war erupted in 2011, came to Northern Syria in May 2016. Kurdish forces established a stronghold about 37 kilometers (23 miles) north of Raqqa. ISIL reportedly used the residents of Raqqa as

human shields A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popula ...

, preventing them from leaving the city. According to Joshua Walker of the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...

, Raqqa could be "the beginning of the end" for ISIL, and the most important offensive since Kobani in 2015.

Preparations

On 20 May the US-led coalition dropped leaflets on the city, encouraging the residents to leave. The SDF is led and dominated by YPG forces, which generally consist of

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...

. To avoid ethnic tensions with Raqqa's majority

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

population,

US special forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

trained more than 200 Arab fighters to take part in the offensive. The announcement for the offensive was made on 24 May, when the 30,000-strong SDF announced the offensive, "with participation from all SDF units", mobilising thousands of fighters in the countryside north of Raqqa, with the aim of expelling ISIL fighters from north of al-Raqqa. The US-led coalition stated that it would provide air support for the offensive. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov announced that his country was ready to coordinate with U.S. and Kurdish forces in the offensive, but the U.S., distrustful of the Russian establishment, turned down the offer.

The offensive

On 21 May 2016 the SDF, led by the YPG, captured the village of al-Hishah, near the town of

Ayn Issa Ayn Issa ( ar, عين عيسى, also spelled Ain Issa. Meaning ''Spring of Jesus'') is a town in the Tell Abyad District of Raqqa Governorate in Syria. It is located halfway between the Syria–Turkey border town of Tell Abyad and the regional cap ...

in the northern countryside from ISIL, killing eight fighters. In the following days additional SDF fighters were mobilized from

Tell Abyad Tell Abyad; ku, گرێ سپی, Girê Spî; hy, Թել Աբյադ; syr, ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ. is a town in northern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it cons ...

to Ayn Issa. ISIL fighters in Raqqa responded by creating defensive lines and tunnels in the city. seven Coalition airstrikes on ISIL positions were confirmed on 23 May. On 25 May, the SDF took control of the Namrodia and Matmashraja villages near Ayn Issa. On 26 May, the SDF reported new gains. SDF forces took the villages of Qartaja, al-Fastah, Indebin and Matmasraja. They had advanced some 6 km into IS-held lands north of Raqqa, and killed at least 31 ISIL fighters. By 30 May, ISIL had redeployed 2,000 to 3,000 militants to Raqqa, from Mosul and other areas controlled by ISIL. It was also reported that ISIL's use of civilians as human shields was slowing down the SDF advance. Later on the same day, the SDF captured an additional nine villages from ISIL, in the northern countryside of Raqqa.

Aftermath

On 3 June 2016, a YPG unit infiltrated into a detention center in Raqqa city and raided it, rescuing a number of prisoners, including a Yezidi family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Raqqa offensive May 2016 events in Syria Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2016 Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the People's Protection Units Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian Democratic Forces Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the United States Raqqa Governorate in the Syrian civil war Tell Abyad District