US-backed forces ENTER ISIS terror HQ of Raqqa to obliterate jihadis days after London terror attack
FORCES have stormed the ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria vowing to liberate the final terror stronghold and "raise the flag of freedom".
The US-led coalition launched an airstrike last night killing at least a dozen people before troops marched on the east of the city this morning.
Raqqa was among the first cities to fall to Islamic State in 2014 and was later declared the de-facto HQ of its evil caliphate.
It is the last large settlement held by the jihadists amid the ongoing offensive to recapture Mosul in northern Iraq, which is in its final bloody stages.
Announcing the operation today, Talal Sillo, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said: "We declare today the beginning of the great battle to liberate the city of Raqqa, the alleged capital of terrorism and terrorists.
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
"Morale is high and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete, in coordination with the US-led coalition."
And a rousing statement was issued by anti-ISIS militias the Syriac Military Council and the Bethnahrin Women Protection Forces.
It said the battle will see "the flag of freedom and democracy" risen in "victory over the terrorists".
But Turkey, which is bitterly opposed to Kurdish advances in northern Syria, said it would strike if its "national interests" were threatened.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it would "retaliate immediately" if the operation presented a threat to Turkey.
SDF fighters began advancing toward Raqqa in November, capturing wide areas of northern Syria from the extremists.
Last week, they reached the northern and eastern gates of the city after intense clashes under the cover of US-led airstrikes.
Raqqa is currently surrounded from the east, north and west, but ISIS has been fortifying its positions in the city for months, setting up barriers and hanging sheets of cloth over main streets to provide cover from warplanes.
A belt of land mines and militant checkpoints circle the city.
This coalition is strong and committed to the complete annihilation of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria
Lt. Gen Steve Townsend
Inside, all the men have been ordered to wear the jihadists' garb of baggy trousers and long shirts in order to make it more difficult to distinguish militants from civilians.
Coalition commanding general Lt. Gen Steve Townsend said: "It's hard to convince new recruits that ISIS is a winning cause when they just lost their twin 'capitals' in both Iraq and Syria.
"We all saw the heinous attack in Manchester, England. ISIS threatens all of our nations, not just Iraq and Syria, but in our own homelands as well. This cannot stand".
"Once ISIS is defeated in both Mosul and [Raqqa], there will still be a lot of hard fighting ahead, but this coalition is strong and committed to the complete annihilation of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria".
Sillo called on Raqqa residents to stay away from "the enemy's centres and points of fighting."
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes on the edge of Raqqa's eastern neighbourhood of Mashlab as well as inside Division 13, a former Syrian army base now controlled by ISIS in the north of the city.
Earlier Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported that the airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition killed 12, including civilians, women and children.
But the Observatory said 21 people were killed in the Monday night airstrikes. It said they were likely carried out by the US-led coalition.
Families have been fleeing the city in boats across the Euphrates River ahead of an expected all-out attack by the SDF.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the London Bridge terror atrocity on Saturday, which killed seven people.
Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368