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US airdrops Syrian forces near Raqqa in surprise attack on Isil

US special forces near Isil-held city of Raqqa
US special forces near Isil-held city of Raqqa

The US-led coalition has airdropped allied Syrian fighters near the Isil-controlled city of Raqqa in a surprise attempt to cut off the jihadists’ main route out. 

The operation aims to secure the strategic Tabqa dam across the Euphrates river and isolate the capital of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil’s) so-called caliphate from the rest of the group’s territory in Syria. 

Five helicopters, supported by five fighter jets, dropped dozens of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters near the northern town of Shurfa on Wednesday afternoon, according to local media reports. 

SDF, made up of Kurdish and local Arab fighters, are leading the US-backed offensive to retake Raqqa from Isil.

The group said in a statement that the operation was in preparation for an assault on Tabqa, an Isil redoubt 28 miles west of Raqqa.

They claimed to have captured four villages and severed the main artery running between the extremists' de facto capital and the western countryside. 

Top officials from the 68-nation alliance are set to meet in Washington today to hear more about a revised plan drafted by the Pentagon and presented to US President Donald Trump in February.

The meeting was the first of all the coalition's top diplomats since September 2014.

Mr Trump ripped up his predecessor’s plan for the Raqqa offensive, however he is yet to present a new one.

The US administration is currently in debate over whether to continue its support for the YPG, which is one of the strongest forces fighting Isil but considered a terrorist group by its Nato ally Turkey, or whether to shift its backing to Ankara.

Even as they weighs their options, the US military is ramping up for the assault, drawing up plans to deploy up to 1,000 more American soldiers to Syria in support of the SDF on the ground.

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