US, UK Expect Raqqa Offensive in Next Few Weeks

Local Editor

The offensive to drive the Takfiri Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] from its Raqqa stronghold in Syria will begin in the next few weeks, top US and British defense officials said Wednesday.

US War Secretary Ashton Carter and his British counterpart Michael Fallon made the predictions nearly 10 days into a US-backed Iraqi offensive on Mosul, the last major Iraqi city under Daesh control.

"It will be within weeks, not many weeks," Carter told reporters at a two-day NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels.

During a visit Sunday to Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan to review the Mosul offensive, Carter said an operation to isolate Daesh in Raqqa should begin in conjunction with the assault on its Iraqi bastion.

Arriving for the defense ministers meeting, Fallon said: "We hope a similar operation will begin towards Raqqa in the next few weeks."

The United States leads a 60-nation anti-Daesh coalition that has provided key support for the Iraqi army offensive launched last week.

It comes in the form of thousands of air strikes, training for Iraqi forces and advisers on the ground.

The loss of Mosul -- where Daesh leaders declared their "caliphate" -- would leave Raqqa the last major city still under the group's control.

Carter said the idea of simultaneous operations against Mosul and Raqqa "has been part of our planning for quite a while."

Later Wednesday, he said the United States would likely work with key NATO ally Turkey to retake Raqqa when asked about tensions between Baghdad and Ankara over its role in the attack on Mosul.

"We already are working extensively with the Turkish military in Syria" and this had produced "significant" results.

"So we are looking for other opportunities including further within Syria, to include Raqqa. That's been part of our discussions," he added.

Turkey's positioning of troops in northern Iraq and its insistence that it has a role in the Mosul offensive had led to sharp exchanges with the Iraqi government, creating a headache for Washington as it tries to keep both of its allies on-side.

Iraq on Monday insisted that Turkey was not participating in the Mosul attack, rejecting Turkish claims that it was.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team