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US-backed forces in Syria say ‘final’ battle for Raqqa is on

This frame grab from a video provided on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 by Turkey-based Kurdish Mezopotamya agency media outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, stand around Syrian civilians who fled from the areas that still controlled by the Islamic State militants, in Raqqa, Syria. Scores of civilians including women and children are fleeing the last few remaining neighborhoods held by the Islamic State group in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, ahead of an anticipated final push by U.S.-backed fighters seeking to liberate the city. (Mezopotamya Agency, via AP)
This frame grab from a video provided on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 by Turkey-based Kurdish Mezopotamya agency media outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, stand around Syrian civilians who fled from the areas that still controlled by the Islamic State militants, in Raqqa, Syria. Scores of civilians including women and children are fleeing the last few remaining neighborhoods held by the Islamic State group in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, ahead of an anticipated final push by U.S.-backed fighters seeking to liberate the city. (Mezopotamya Agency, via AP) This frame grab from a video provided on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 by Turkey-based Kurdish Mezopotamya agency media outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, stand around Syrian civilians who fled from the areas that still controlled by the Islamic State militants, in Raqqa, Syria. Scores of civilians including women and children are fleeing the last few remaining neighborhoods held by the Islamic State group in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, ahead of an anticipated final push by U.S.-backed fighters seeking to liberate the city. (Mezopotamya Agency, via AP)

By Associated Press 1 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – A spokesman for the U.S.-backed forces fighting Islamic State militants in Syria says they are waging the “final” battle to uproot the extremists from the northern city of Raqqa.

Mustafa Bali, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said on Saturday that this final battle could take hours or days.

Losing Raqqa, once the de facto capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate, would be a major blow to the militant group.

Bali says IS militants are desperately fighting in a number of neighborhoods in the city.

The battle for Raqqa began in June, with heavy street-by-street fighting amid intense U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and shelling. The battle has dragged in the face of stiff resistance from the militants and civilians trapped in the city.