ON NOVEMBER 6th the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab militia, announced an offensive to eject Islamic State (IS) from its stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa. America’s outgoing defence secretary, Ash Carter, welcomed the news. He is keen to give an impression of gathering momentum in the campaign to destroy the “caliphate” in Syria as well as in Iraq. Mr Carter described the operation to isolate and liberate Raqqa as the next stage in the coalition’s campaign.
However, the attempted encirclement of Raqqa is not like the battle raging on the other side of the border, to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-biggest city. Now in its fourth week, that battle is hard-fought but going well. Clearing IS fighters from surrounding villages, stuffed with booby traps and linked by tunnels, is difficult, dangerous work. But Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga and Shia militias, supported by coalition air strikes, are advancing on several axes. Some special force units have entered an eastern district of the city.
Mosul will surely be liberated sooner rather than later, although the cost in military and civilian lives may be...Continue reading
from Middle East and Africa http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21709967-there-less-offensive-islamic-states-capital-meets-eye-anyone?fsrc=rss
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