The Northern Raqqa offensive was a 2016 military offensive launched by the Kurdish-led

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

in northern

Raqqa Governorate Raqqa Governorate (, Kurdish: ''Parêzgeha Reqa'') 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 of Iraq and Levant claim ...

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

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

. The offensive was launched in coordination with airstrikes by the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. 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 (, ) is the co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (Syria), Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main party of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. As the deputy coordinator of the National Coordination Co ...

stated that

(SDF) forces were preparing with the US-led coalition to launch an offensive on

. U.S. Central Command 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, preventing them from leaving the city. According to Joshua Walker of the German Marshall Fund, 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 Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. To avoid ethnic tensions with Raqqa's majority

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

population, US special forces 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 in the northern countryside from ISIL, killing eight fighters. In the following days additional SDF fighters were mobilized from Tell Abyad 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 run by

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

city and raided it, rescuing a number of prisoners, including a Yezidi family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Raqqa offensive May 2016 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 Defense 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

Background

Preparations

The offensive

Aftermath

See also

References