Syrian Forces Continue Advance toward Daesh-Held Raqqah
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) – Syrian government forces keep advancing toward the headquarters of the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group in the northern city of Raqqah.
According to Tasnim dispatches, Syrian troops on Monday reached al-Rasafeh, some 30km from Raqqa city.
The town is one of the key areas which can play a major role in the recapture of Raqqah, the Takfiri terrorists’ main stronghold.
The government forces managed to liberate the towns of Ja Din and al-Isawee from the militants before entering al-Rasafeh in southern edges of the city.
The Syrian army, which has been taking territory from retreating Daesh militants in the eastern Aleppo countryside, has moved into Raqqa province and seized back some oil fields and villages that had been under the militants' control for almost three years.
Over the past six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
