SDF seizes quarter of Raqqa from ISIS

LONDON_ 26 June 2017: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized a quarter of Syria's Raqqa from ISIS terrorist group after 20 days of fighting, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Since the offensive began, the SDF have captured around 25 percent of the city's built-up neighborhoods," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Monday.

Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDF has fully seized the southeastern districts of Al-Meshleb and Al-Senaa, as well as Al-Rumaniya and Sabahiya in the west, he said.

From those neighborhoods, they were bearing down on Raqqa’s Old City in a pincer movement on Monday, with fighting raging in the western Al-Qadisiya district and parts of the city's east, Al Arabiya news channel reported.

SDF fighters also hold part of Division 17 -- a former Syrian army base -- and an adjacent sugar factory on the northern edges of the city.