The battle of Raqqa (2017), also known as the second battle of Raqqa, was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (IS) with an aim to seize the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL since 2014. The battle began on 6 June 2017, and was supported by airstrikes and ground troops from the US-led coalition. The operation was named the "Great Battle" by the SDF. It concluded on 17 October 2017, with the SDF fully capturing the city of Raqqa.
The battle ran concurrently with the conclusion of the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017), which had started seven months earlier, as part of an effort by the CJTF–OIR and its allies to strip ISIL of its regional centers of power and to dismantle it as a state. It continued while Syrian Arab Army and allies began clearing ISIL across the Euphrates, reaching the point of the lifting of the Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017).
Like other battles fought against ISIL, the battle for Raqqa was marked by intense urban combat, with fighting both on the surface level, and in tunnels below that ISIL militants moved through. One U.S. commander described it as some of the most intense urban fighting since the Second World War. Out of a pre-war population of 300,000 some 270,000 people were said to have fled Raqqa. Around 80% of the city was destroyed by the battle.
Background
In 2015, ISIL began to fortify the city and its surrounding areas with bunkers and a network of tunnels.
By June 2017, Raqqa remained the only major Syrian city fully under ISIL control and was, therefore, its effective center of operations. With its large number of foreign fighters, Raqqa was a planning center for terrorist attacks against European cities. The Raqqa campaign was launched by the SDF on 6 November 2016 in an effort to capture the city, and it had resulted in the SDF capturing a large amount of territory in the Raqqa Governorate from ISIL, including the city of al-Thawrah, and the infrastructure at Euphrates Dam and Mansoura Dam.
As many as 500 US special forces operated on the ground in northern Syria in support of the Raqqa campaign. The US and other coalition members supplied heavy weapons, intelligence collection, communications support and other assistance to the SDF as part of their intervention in the conflict. The battle began in the wake of a tumultuous period for the coalition, as internal pressures had been elevated by the Qatar diplomatic crisis, which had seen diplomatic relations between Qatar and other coalition members severed, and was publicly supported by President Donald Trump.
Local residents stated that many ISIL militants had already abandoned the city and traveled to Deir ez-Zor in anticipation of the impending attack on their capital. ISIL assaulted the regime's enclave in Deir ez-Zor, which at the time was split between ISIL and the Syrian government, launching a series of strong attacks against the Syrian Army from June to August.
It was reported by AFP that in a US airstrike, 21 civilians were killed while attempting to flee Raqqa by dinghy on the Euphrates River. The event was also reported by Al Jazeera, but with uncertainty as to who carried out the bombing.
Timeline of the battle
Entering Raqqa
The United States Air Force conducted heavy airstrikes on Raqqa the day before the battle. The battle was officially launched by the SDF in the dawn of 6 June 2017. The offensive came from Raqqa's north, east, and west. Supported by US airstrikes, the SDF attacked the former base of the 17th Division north of Raqqa and the Mashlab district in the southeastern part of the city. By the end of the day, the SDF captured more than half of Mashlab district and also attacked the Andalus district in the northwest. The SDF also captured the village of al-Jazra.
On 7 June, the SDF captured a ruined fortress on the edge of the city, and a US coalition official said the attack was set to accelerate. On the same day, the SDF captured the Tell Harqal district of the city.
Brett H. McGurk, the special envoy with responsibility over the US-led military coalition, stated that the fighting in the city would be accelerated by the failures of ISIL in the Battle of Mosul, and stated that the forces were prepared for a "difficult and very long-term battle".
The SDF entered the former 17th Division base and the nearby sugar plant on 8 June, but retreated due to heavy casualties.
The following night, Coalition airplanes heavily struck the city, killing 23 civilians. At the same time the SDF, supported by US special forces, were close to capturing the entire al-Mashlab neighborhood. Later that day, the SDF entered Sabahiyah neighborhood from the west and captured the remaining parts of the al-Mashlab neighborhood within hours.
On 10 June, the SDF entered the Roman suburb and were locked "in fierce fighting", while they were reinforcing the western half of Al-Sabahiya. An international coalition spokesperson stated that they had destroyed numerous targets in Raqqa between 7–9 June; a minefield, eleven fighting positions, four vehicles, three ISIL headquarters, two vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) and an ISIL-held building. At the end of the day, the SDF took control over the suburb of Harqaliya. During the battle, US forces used white phosphorus munitions in the city several times, per ISIL video footage and statements, the Syrian foreign ministry, and human rights organizations. A spokesman for the US military did not confirm or deny the statements, the US later confirmed it was using white phosphorus "for screening, obscuring, and marking in a way that fully considers the possible incidental effects on civilians and civilian structures".
By 11 June, 79 civilians reportedly had been killed. The SDF captured "wide parts" of the Roman suburb and advanced into al-Sinaa neighborhood and al-Hal Market near the northern banks of the Euphrates River. ISIL fighters attacked the sugar plant that the SDF had captured three days earlier in the northern part of the city.
On 12 June, the SDF began the process of capturing al-Sinaa and al-Hattin neighborhoods, along with the al-Sinaa industrial zone. The SDF captured Sahil village southwest of Raqqa after clashes between the SDF and ISIL broke out and lasted until the next morning.
On 14 June, the SDF entered the al-Berid neighborhood in the western part of Raqqa, following intense fighting in which an ISIL suicide bomber was killed.
On 15 June, the SDF captured the al-Sinaa neighborhood and entered the Batani neighborhood. Several CJTF–OIR troops were injured by a VBIED planted by ISIL in al-Sinaa neighborhood.
On 18 June, the SDF captured Kasrat Sheyh Juma village, to the south of Raqqa. SDF forces also captured Batani neighborhood in the east.
Encirclement of Raqqa
On 19 June, ISIL counter-attacked at the old city walls and managed to encircle a group of SDF fighters, among them members of the Elite Forces (SEF). Other Elite Forces then attempted to break the encirclement, shooting down an ISIL bombing drone, and breaking through to their fifteen besieged fighters at the Bab Baghdad gate of the old city. In the course of this operation, the SEF lost its first member in the battle for Raqqa and its fourth in the Raqqa campaign. On the next day, the SDF, supported by especially heavy airstrikes, continued to advance in northwestern Raqqa amid "desperate" attempts from ISIL to stop their progress. An ISIL counter-attack on the Batani district was repelled. On 23 June, the SDF began an assault on the Qadisiya district, which led to fierce fighting in the area. On the next day, the SDF completely encircled and besieged Raqqa city, trapping about 4,000 ISIL militants.
By 25 June, the SDF had captured most of the western Qadisiya district, whereupon ISIL launched a major counter-attack, leading to extremely heavy fighting. On the following day, the SDF finally captured all of Qadisiya, making it the sixth district in the city under SDF control. In response, ISIL launched multiple counter-attacks in the city and on the Euphrates' southern bank, though these failed. By the end of the day, the SDF had also taken control of al-Farkha village to Raqqa's southwest. CJTF–OIR spokesman Ryan Dillon said that the resistance of ISIL increased as the SDF further advanced into the city.
On 27 June, the SDF launched an attack against the old city, which was repelled by ISIL, though they succeeded in capturing the village of al-Ghota south of Raqqa.
On 28 June, the SDF clashed with ISIL militants near a kindergarten in Ar-Ruda neighborhood in eastern Raqqa, killing eight ISIL fighters. The SDF also entered al-Nahda neighborhood in western Raqqa where they clashed heavily with ISIL militants, which resulted in 19 ISIL fighters being killed. In course of the next two days, the SDF cut off all remaining escape routes for ISIL from Raqqa. Clashes between the SDF and ISIL militants also began in al-Yarmouk and Huteen neighborhoods in western Raqqa, while the SDF captured another village south of the city. Nevertheless, a major ISIL counter-attack on 30 June, spearheaded by numerous VBIEDs, retook the al-Sinaa neighborhood after 350 SDF fighters who were part of an unidentified Free Syrian Army (FSA) unit abandoned their posts and fled.
SDF advance into the old city
During 1–2 July, SDF fighters cleared the al-Hal market in eastern Raqqa of ISIL militants, while the SDF continued to advance in other neighborhoods of the city with the help of heavy CJTF–OIR airstrikes. Ratla, a village southeast of the city also fell to the SDF. The SDF entered the Hashim Bin al-Melek neighborhood in southern Raqqa and the al-Yarmouk neighborhood in the west on 3 July. In the night of 3–4 July, a CJTF–OIR precision airstrike destroyed a 25-meter-long section of the medieval wall surrounding Raqqa's old city. This was done so that the SDF could finally enter the heavily fortified old city, while at the same time preserving most of the wall. The SDF advanced into the old city, capturing the Palace of the Maidens, albeit encountering heavy resistance. Meanwhile, the US-backed forces continued to make progress in other parts of Raqqa, reportedly capturing half of the Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik neighborhood, while a major assault by the Elite Forces managed to retake the al-Sinaa neighborhood from ISIL. Some less disciplined Elite Forces units, however, were demoralized by the heavy fighting and retreated from the city, against the orders of the SDF command, and their own superiors and comrades. Nevertheless, the other Elite Forces units remained at the frontlines.
Heavy fighting in the old city continued through the next two days, and the SDF advances were slow despite heavy airstrikes in their support. Intense ISIL counter-attacks inside Raqqa and south of the city at Ratla were mostly repelled, though ISIS militants managed to retake a part of the al-Hal market. Especially intense clashes also took place in the western city, mostly for the al-Bareed neighborhood, as both sides launched repeated attacks in attempts to gain territory. By 6 July, pro-SDF media stated that the Coalition forces were making progress in the west and that the ISIL defenses there showed signs of breaking. The international coalition also sent further weapons, supplies, and reinforcements to Raqqa. Meanwhile, ISIL put up a bounty of approximately US$4,000 for every US soldier or foreign SDF fighter killed. Over the next days, the fierce fighting in Raqqa continued, with the SDF capturing the Harun al-Rashid Castle in the old city, and the al-Mazarie Square in the west. By 10 July, the battle in Raqqa was described as increasingly "desperate house-to-house fight" without frontlines, as ISIL fighters holed up in small pockets of resistance that proved to be only extremely difficult to clear out for the often not adequately armed SDF fighters. ISIL suicide attacks also hampered the advance of the Coalition forces.
The SDF progress was also reportedly hindered by disputes within the SDF and the distrust of the locals toward the anti-ISIL Coalition. Due to ISIL propaganda and long-standing distrust between the ethnic groups in Syria, many of Raqqa's Arabs are wary of the Kurdish forces within the SDF. On 8 July, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the Arab Elite Forces had withdrawn from Raqqa as result of disputes within the SDF, and their sometimes inferior battlefield performance; the SDF, however, denied this statement as baseless rumors and said that the Elite Forces were still involved in the operation. One Elite Forces' commander, Abu Saleh, later confirmed that at least the unit of around 1,000 fighters that he led had withdrawn from Raqqa; nevertheless, there were still reports that at least some of the Elite Forces still continued to be active in Raqqa. The reports of the Elite Forces' reported retreat furthered the distrust of the local population toward the SDF. There were also statements that members of the Manbij Military Council were looting houses in the city. Whereas progress in Raqqa city during this time proved slow, the SDF made some progress south of the Euphrates on 10 and 11 July, capturing two villages, including al-Ukeirshi, which had served as major military base for ISIL.