US-backed forces in Syria have breached the wall surrounding the Old City of Raqa as they try to retake the city from the Islamic State group, the US Central Command said Monday night.
“Coalition forces supported the SDF advance into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the Old City,” Centcom said in a statement, referring to the Syrian Democratic Forces.
US-backed fighters pierced jihadist-held Raqa from the south for the first time on Sunday, crossing the Euphrates River to enter a new part of the Syrian city, a monitor said.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have spent months closing in on the Islamic State group’s bastion Raqa and entered the city’s east and west for the first time last month.
In the fighting at the wall, US Central Command said the SDF fighters faced heavy resistance from IS fighters, who used the wall as a combat position and planted mines and improvised explosive devices against advancing US-backed soldiers.
“Conducting targeted strikes on two small portions of the wall allowed coalition and partner forces to breach the Old City at a locations of their choosing, denied ISIS the ability to use pre-positioned mines, IED and VBIEDs, protected SDF and civilian lives, and preserved the integrity of the greatest portion of the wall,” the US statement said.
“The portions targeted were 25-meter sections and will help preserve the remainder of the overall 2,500-meter wall,” it added.
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