WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. intelligence has detected signs of Islamic State plotting against the West from their Syrian stronghold at Raqqa, adding urgency to coalition plans to encircle and eventually assault the city, a senior American general said Wednesday.
“We know this plot-and-planning is emanating from Raqqa,” Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said. “We think we’ve got to get to Raqqa pretty soon.” He declined to be more precise about a timeline but said there is “a sense of urgency.”
Speaking to Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Baghdad, Townsend said the coalition already is “trying to head it off,” referring to unspecified IS plans to attack in the West, by watching the Raqqa area and using airstrikes against available targets.
“We’re going to do those kinds of suppressive fires until we’re ready to mount an approach and isolation of Raqqa,” he said.
Townsend is commander of the U.S.-led coalition that is fighting IS in both Iraq and Syria. Unlike in Iraq, where the coalition is supporting Iraqi government forces, the U.S. and its coalition partners in Syria are relying on a hodge-podge of local Arab and Kurdish opposition groups to do the fighting.