Sources: US Sets up Coordination Center in Syria ahead of Raqqa Operation

Rasa - Local sources said the United States has set up a coordination center in the Syrian town of Tel Abyad as part of its plan to mobilize the US-backed forces before Raqqa operation.

News ID: 423764

Date: 21 September 2016 - 13:52

RNA - The sources within the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) revealed the coordination center has been set up near the village of Minbeteh, just a few kilometers to Raqqa.

The reports on the US coordination center for Raqqa operation surfaced as it was reported a few days ago, 50 US soldiers have arrived in 15 armored cars in Tel Abyad in Hasaka province.

They put up a US flag marking their center. The area around the center, which is located near the Turkish border, is guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

According to local sources, the main task of the US center in Tel Abyad has been claimed as the provision of assistance by US forces with the Syrian the Democratic Forces, and giving consulting services to them in the field of military tactics and strategy.

Tel Abyad, located 90 km from Raqqa and controlled by the Kurdish forces, has a strategic importance for the Syrian Kurds as it links the two Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Jazira.

The preparation of US-backed forces to capture Raqqa is taking place in the backdrop of reports suggesting the stronghold city of ISIL has become one of the last major cities under the control of the terrorists in Syria as they have been completing a rapid withdrawal from the liberated city of al-Bab to Raqqa to find safer shelters following the recent advances of the foreign-backed forces in the Eastern parts of Aleppo province.

Faced with the Kurdish and other armed groups' fierce offensives, the ISIL has evacuated a large number of its forces from al-Bab and merely the locals have remained in the region.

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