SDF Forces Fleeing Raqqa Battle against ISIL

The sources said that after the SDF sustained a large number of casualties in clashes with the ISIL terrorists in the city of Raqqa, tens of Kurdish fighters fled the scene and returned to their villages near Hasaka.

The sources close to the terrorists stressed that the SDF members fleeing in large numbers is the result of growing fear among younger Kurdish forces who were forced to join the anti-ISIL fighting and also the absence of SDF commanders in the frontlines.

Meantime, 150 SDF fighters who had fled the battle have been arrested, according to the latest reports.

In relevant remarks on Wednesday, field sources disclosed that the SDF have pushed ISIL terrorists back from 55 percent of Raqqa city within the framework of the Euphrates Rage Operation.

The SDF conducted a bloody battle with ISIL in Raqqa city and managed to advance in al-Barid neighborhood South-West of the city, the sources said.

They added that the SDF fighters pushed ISIL back from the buildings of Military-Security Centers, National Defense and several squares in al-Barid.

The sources also said that tough battle is underway between the SDF and ISIL in the neighborhoods of al-Karim and Hosham Bin Abdul Malik.

In the meantime, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that ISIL withdrew from 55 percent of Raqqa city.

Based on field reports, the ISIL terrorists managed to take control of the SDF-controlled village of Shari’an East of Tal Abyadh.

Field sources said last week that the SDF engaged in fierce clashes with ISIL and pushed them back from Nazla Shahada neighborhood adjacent to Hosham Bin Abdul Malik neighborhood in South Raqqa.

In the meantime, SOHR reported that ISIL withdrew from the Southern districts of Raqqa city and the Northern bank of the Euphrates River after the Kurdish fighters deployed in Eastern Raqqa (Hosham Bin Abdul Malik neighborhood) advanced to shake hands with their comrades that had marched from the Western part of the city (Nazla Shahada neighborhood).

Field sources reported fierce clashes between ISIL and the SDF in the city center and near Hosham Bin Abdul Malik neighborhood, mentioning that SDF units are just a few hundred yards away from the notorious al-Sa’ah Square, where the ISIL executed people.