Kurdish-led fighters marching against Daesh near Syria’s Raqqa

By AP - Nov 10,2016 - Last updated at Nov 10,2016

Syrians fleeing areas controlled by militants of the Daesh group are seen on the road as they come to safety in areas held by by Kurdish-Arab Syria Democratic Forces alliance, on Tuesday, near the village of Ein Issa, some 50 kilometres north of Raqqa, Daesh’s de facto Syrian capital (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — A Syrian Kurdish-led force fighting the Daesh terror group north of the country are on the verge of surrounding a wide area north of the extremist stronghold of Raqqa, according to a spokeswoman for group.

Cihan Ehmed of the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) told The Associated Press on Thursday that its fighters are advancing on two fronts north of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh' self-declared "caliphate". The push from Ein Issa and Suluk north of Raqqa has been ongoing for days under the cover of airstrikes by the US-led coalition.

The US-backed SDF, which includes Kurdish, Arab, Syriac and Turkmen fighters, say they have committed 30,000 fighters to the offensive aiming to eventual recapture the city of Raqqa, which was announced on Sunday. Iraq is meanwhile waging a major offensive to drive Daesh from the northern city of Mosul.

Ehmed said once the forces coming from the two directions meet north of Raqqa, they will surround 550 square kilometres of territory controlled by the extremists.

"The operations are ongoing according to the plan," she said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said many people are fleeing areas of fighting north of Raqqa. It added that SDF fighters have advanced north of Raqqa, capturing new areas and raising to 17 the number of villages and farms taken from Daesh since the offensive began.

Later on Thursday, the SDF said on social media that its fighters have captured three farms, a village, and have approached the village of Hayes where intense clashes are ongoing.

The operation to recapture Raqqa has been dubbed "Euphrates Rage" and a joint operations command has been set up to coordinate various factions taking part in the battles.

Elsewhere in Syria, seven people were wounded, some critically, when rebels shelled two government-held neighbourhoods in the northern city of Aleppo, state news agency SANA said.

In the capital Damascus, a rocket fired by rebels struck a school in the central Al Mohajireen neighbourhood wounding three children, state media said without providing further details.

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