Kurdish and Arab fighters aided by US soldiers have battled the Islamic State group north of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa as Iraqi forces edged towards the jihadist-held city of Fallujah.
The twin offensives are two of the most significant ground assaults against the extremists since they declared a self-styled “caliphate” straddling Iraq and Syria in 2014. The assaults came as Syria’s UN envoy said trapped civilians risk starvation unless Damascus and rebel groups allow greater access to humanitarian aid convoys.
The UN Security Council discussed on Friday the humanitarian situation in Syria and the possibility of parachuting aid to besieged cities. Near the front line north of Raqqa city, an AFP photographer saw US soldiers on Wednesday assisting a Kurdish-Arab alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF is working its way through villages and farmland south of the town of Ain Issa, less than 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Raqqa city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters on Thursday were shelling IS positions near Ain Issa as the US-led coalition carried out nearly non-stop air raids.