Fierce clashes as US-backed force battles ISIL in Syria’s Raqqa

Qamishli, Syria // US-backed fighters battled ISIL on Thursday as they tried to push further into the extremists’ Syrian bastion Raqqa, two days after finally entering the northern city.

The Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters began the battle for the city this week after seven months of fighting to surround ISIL’sstronghold.

On Wednesday, as SDF fighters entered the city, they witnessed heavy clashes in the Al Meshleb neighbourhood, with ISIL firing multiple mortar rounds towards the advancing forces.

Part of the neighbourhood was under SDF control but US-led coalition planes were still carrying out strikes against ISIL fighters elsewhere in the district, one of the largest in Raqqa.

SDF fighters were armed mostly with light weapons including Kalashnikovs, and were also returning mortar fire on ISIL positions.

The SDF did not allow journalists to return to the city on Thursday where fighting was continuing.

"Our troops are advancing in Al Meshleb and control parts of it," SDF spokesman Talal Sello said.

"The international coalition forces are working with us on the ground in the battle for Raqqa in a highly effective manner," he added.

The US-led coalition said it had carried out 22 strikes near Raqqa on Wednesday, hitting ISIL fighting positions and vehicles as well as a weapons cache and a training camp.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the SDF now controlled around two-thirds of Al Meshleb and was some 400 metres from the neighbouring Al Senaa district.

"IS has snipers monitoring Al Meshleb neighbourhood and has laid mines extensively throughout it," the Observatory said.

The group said the district had been emptied of its civilian population before the SDF entered, and ISIL had dug defensive trenches and tunnels in the area in a bid to hold off attacking forces.

Fighting was also continuing on the western outskirts of the city, the monitor said, adding that US special forces were actively participating in battles on several fronts.

Around 500 US military personnel, not all of them special forces, are believed to be participating in the battle for Raqqa.

* Agence France-Presse