The Northern Raqqa offensive was a 2016 military offensive launched by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Raqqa Governorate, in order to prepare for a future attack on the city of Raqqa. The offensive was launched in coordination with airstrikes by the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. After 30 May, the offensive stalled, as the SDF shifted its focus and resources to another operation in the northern Aleppo Province.
Background
On 1 April 2016, Democratic Union Party (PYD) leader Salih Muslim stated that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces were preparing with the US-led coalition to launch an offensive on Raqqa.
U.S. Central Command Commander General Joseph L. Votel, the highest-ranking U.S. military official to visit Syria since the war erupted in 2011, came to Northern Syria in May 2016.
Kurdish forces established a stronghold about 37 kilometers (23 miles) north of Raqqa. ISIL reportedly used the residents of Raqqa as human shields, preventing them from leaving the city.
According to Joshua Walker of the German Marshall Fund, Raqqa could be "the beginning of the end" for ISIL, and the most important offensive since Kobani in 2015.
Preparations
On 20 May the US-led coalition dropped leaflets on the city, encouraging the residents to leave.
The SDF is led and dominated by YPG forces, which generally consist of Kurds. To avoid ethnic tensions with Raqqa's majority Arab population, US special forces trained more than 200 Arab fighters to take part in the offensive.
The announcement for the offensive was made on 24 May, when the 30,000-strong SDF announced the offensive, "with participation from all SDF units", mobilising thousands of fighters in the countryside north of Raqqa, with the aim of expelling ISIL fighters from north of al-Raqqa.
The US-led coalition stated that it would provide air support for the offensive. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov announced that his country was ready to coordinate with U.S. and Kurdish forces in the offensive, but the U.S., distrustful of the Russian establishment, turned down the offer.
The offensive
The SDF, led by the YPG, started an offensive on 21 May 2016 against ISIL and managed to capture the village of al-Hishah, near the town of Ayn Issa. During the fighting eight ISIL fighters were killed. In the following days, additional SDF fighters were mobilized from Tell Abyad to Ayn Issa. ISIL fighters in Raqqa responded by creating defensive lines and tunnels in the city. Two days later, seven Coalition airstrikes on ISIL positions were confirmed. On 25 May, the SDF took control of the Namrodia and Matmashraja villages near Ayn Issa.
The following week, the SDF reported new gains. Their forces took control of the villages of Qartaja, al-Fastah, Indebin and Matmasraja. SDF units had advanced some 6 km into ISIL-held lands north of Raqqa, and killed at least 31 ISIL fighters. By 30 May, ISIL had redeployed 2,000 to 3,000 militants to Raqqa, from Mosul and other areas controlled by ISIL. It was also reported that ISIL's use of civilians as human shields was slowing down the SDF advance. Later on the same day, the SDF captured an additional nine villages from ISIL, in the northern countryside of Raqqa.
Aftermath
On 3 June 2016, a YPG unit infiltrated into a detention center run by ISIS in Raqqa city and raided it, rescuing a number of prisoners, including a Yezidi family.