IS about to suffer a fatal blow in Raqqa

US-backed Syrian forces launch campaign to drive IS completely out of Raqqa.

IS parades through the streets of Raqqa in 2014. Photo: AP.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group in Raqqa will continue "until the city is cleared of terrorists who refuse to surrender," according to AP.

The SDF has been attacking Raqqa since early June and now controls about 90% of the city, considered IS's stronghold in Syria. The SDF launched its final assault on the city on October 15.Several hundred IS fighters are still holding out in several fighting areas in the city.

Earlier, the US-led coalition and local officials announced on October 14 that Syrian IS fighters and civilians would be allowed to leave Raqqa but not foreign fighters, a move aimed at preventing civilians from being used as human shields by IS.275 IS fighters have surrendered and are being interrogated.

The loss of Raqqa would be a major blow to IS, which has lost most of the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq. Iraqi forces retook the city of Mosul – the group’s stronghold in Iraq – in July and Syrian government forces retook the city of Mayadeen, near the Iraqi border, on 14 October.

IS still occupies parts of Syria's Deir el-Zour province and Iraq's Anbar province, and has small "sleeps" scattered elsewhere.

Location of Raqqa. Graphics: BBC.

According to VNE