Euphrates Rage

NOV. 6, 2016, 6:33 A.M. E.S.T.

BEIRUT — U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian forces announced their plan Sunday to retake the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa, saying they hoped Turkey would not "interfere in internal Syrian affairs."

The announcement by the Syria Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish, Arab and Christian forces, was made Sunday at a press conference in Ein Issa, north of Raqqa, attended by commanders and spokespeople for the group. An official who read out a statement said the operation to liberate Raqqa, dubbed the "Euphrates Rage" operation, had officially begun.

The statement said that 30,000 fighters will take part in the operation.

The announcement comes as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces had entered the eastern edges of the IS-held city of Mosul and were working to push deeper into the last IS urban bastion in Iraq. But the Kurdish officials said the two campaigns were not coordinated, but simply "good timing."

Source: The Associated Press