Battle of Raqqa (2017)

Not to be confused with Battle of Raqqa (2013).
Battle of Raqqa (2017)
Part of the American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war, the International military intervention against the Islamic State, the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017), the Rojava–Islamist conflict, and the Syrian civil war

Map of the SDF advances and control situations in Raqqa city, during the battle
  Islamic State control
  Syrian Democratic Forces control
Date6 June – 17 October 2017
(4 months, 1 week and 4 days)
Location
Raqqa, Raqqa Governorate, Syria
35°57′00″N 39°01′00″E / 35.9500°N 39.0167°E / 35.9500; 39.0167
Result

Decisive SDF and allies victory[11]

  • 80% of the city is destroyed[12]
Territorial
changes
  • The SDF captured 17th Division HQ on 8 June and completely encircled Raqqa on 24 June[13][14]
  • The SDF captured the city on 17 October[15]
    • Belligerents

    AANES

    International Freedom Battalion[a][5][6]
    Sinjar Resistance Units[7]
    Êzîdxan Women's Units[7]
    CJTF–OIR

    		Islamic State Islamic State
    Commanders and leaders
    Rojda Felat[16]
    (SDF general command member and YPJ commander)
    Clara Raqqa[17][18]
    (high-ranking YPJ commander)
    Adnan Abu Amjad †[19]
    (Manbij Military Council general commander)
    Muhammad Mustafa Ali "Abu Adel"[20]
    (Manbij Military Council and Northern Sun Battalion commander)
    Dilsuz Hashme[21]
    (Manbij Military Council senior commander)
    Ibrahim Semho[21]
    (Euphrates Liberation Brigade commander)
    Abu Imad[22][23]
    (Elite Forces commander)
    Ahmad Sultan[24]
    (Army of Revolutionaries commander-in-chief)
    Ali Çiçek[25]
    (Kurdish Front commander)
    Abu Raad Bakary[26]
    (Tribal Forces commander)
    Nubar Ozanyan †
    (IFB and TKP/ML commander)    		 Islamic State Abu Khattab al-Tunisi †[27]
    (ISIL high command member and commander of eastern Raqqa)
    Islamic State Abu Osama al-Tunisi †[28]
    (ISIL commander)
    Islamic State Abu Ubada al-Shami Surrendered[29]
    (Caliphate Cubs commander and chief recruiter)
    Islamic State Abu Osama[30]
    (Commander of ISIL holdouts by Oct. 2017)
    Units involved
    See anti-ISIL forces order of battle See ISIL order of battle
    Strength

    30,000–40,000 total[31]

    • 10,000–15,000 in the city (SOHR estimate)[32]
    		 3,000–5,000[31][33]
    Casualties and losses
    690 killed (per SOHR)[34]
    655 killed (per SDF)[35]
    1,000 killed (per ISIL)[36]    		 1,400 killed (per SOHR)[34]
    1,246+ killed,[36][37]
    715 captured (per SDF)[38][39]
    1,540 civilians killed (per SOHR)[34]
    1,600 civilians killed by Coalition airstrikes (per Airwars and Amnesty International)[40]
    1,854–1,873 civilians killed (per local monitors)[41][42]
    Tens of thousands of civilians displaced[43][44]

    The battle of Raqqa (2017), also known as the second battle of Raqqa, was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (ISIL) with an aim to seize the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL since 2014. The battle began on 6 June 2017, and was supported by airstrikes and ground troops from the US-led coalition.[45] The operation was named the "Great Battle" by the SDF.[46] It concluded on 17 October 2017, with the SDF fully capturing the city of Raqqa.

    The battle ran concurrently with the lifting of the Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017) as well as the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017), which started seven months earlier, as part of an effort by the CJTF–OIR and its allies to strip ISIL of its regional centers of power and to dismantle it as a state.[47]

    Similarly to the other battles fought against ISIL, the battle for Raqqa was marked by grueling urban combat,[48][49][50][51] with fighting both on the surface level, and in tunnels below that ISIL militants moved through.[52] One U.S. commander described it as some of the most intense urban fighting since the Second World War.[51] Out of a pre-war population of 300,000 some 270,000 people were said to have fled Raqqa.[53] Around 80% of the city was destroyed by the battle.[12]

    1. ^ "Great War for the liberation of Raqqa begins". Hawar News Agency. 6 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
    2. ^ Harp (2017), pp. 43–49.
    3. ^ Harp (2017), p. 49.
    4. ^ Sinan Deniz (13 November 2016). "'Raqqa's fall will bring the end of Erdoğan'". ANF News. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
    5. ^ Moore, Jack (25 July 2017). "First LGBT Unit Created to Fight Isis in Syria. Its Name? The Queer Insurrection". Newsweek. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
    6. ^ Kentish, Ben (25 July 2017). "'The Queer Insurrection': Coalition forces fighting Isis in Syria form first LGBT unit". The Independent. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
    7. ^ a b "Şengal's YJŞ: heading for al-Raqqa to liberate Yazidi women". Hawar News Agency. 3 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
    8. ^ Sirwan Kajjo (21 December 2016). "Kurdish-Arab Forces in Syria Make Gains in Raqqa Province". Voice of America.
    9. ^ Steven Swinford (25 December 2016). "Operation Raqqa: British RAF pilots to switch bombing raids to 'the heart' of Isil". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
    10. ^ Volkmar Kabisch; Reiko Pinkert (29 March 2017). "Zivile Opfer in Syrien. Bundeswehr in verheerenden Luftschlag involviert" (in German). Tagesschau (Germany). Retrieved 29 March 2017.
    11. ^ Cite error: The named reference raqqaover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 80 percent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    13. ^ Islamic State faces endgame in Raqqa stronghold, say SDF forces Middle East Eye, September 20, 2017
    14. ^ "Al-Raqqah city is free of ISIS and declaration of control bound to the sweep's end". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
    15. ^ "U.S.-backed Syrian forces recapture Raqqa from Islamic State group". PBS NewsHour. 17 October 2017.
    16. ^ "US-backed fighters move into ISIS stronghold Raqqa for the first time". Agence France-Presse. 6 June 2017.
    17. ^ "The commander Clara: 4 stages achieved their aims". Hawar News Agency. 7 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
    18. ^ Mahmoud Bali (12 June 1017). "Female Commander Leads Anti-IS Fighters in Hometown Raqqa". Voice of America.
    19. ^ "SDF: Manbij commander Adnan killed in Raqqa offensive". Rudaw Media Network. 30 August 2017.
    20. ^ Mohammad Abdulssattar Ibrahim; Maria Nelson (6 June 2017). "Syrian Democratic Forces break through Raqqa city limits for first time, capture neighborhoods". Syria Direct. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
    21. ^ a b Aris Roussinos (19 September 2017). "Inside The Fight To Retake Raqqa From ISIS".
    22. ^ Molly Hennessy-Fiske (4 July 2017). "A schism among Syrian rebel fighters threatens to slow down the battle against Islamic State". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
    23. ^ "The Elite Teams are joining the Wrath of Euphrates". Hawar News Agency. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-15. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
    24. ^ "Video: SDF Official Stating to Qasioun the Latest Military Updates in Raqqa". Qasioun News Agency. 12 August 2017. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
    25. ^ "ISIS will have no power left after Raqqa: Commander". Firat News Agency. 27 September 2017.
    26. ^ "Tribal forces: Our goal is liberation tenderness and all Syrian territory from terrorism". Hawar News Agency. 19 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
    27. ^ Dilber Issa (12 June 2017). "Top ISIS military official killed by SDF fire in Raqqa city". ARA News. Archived from the original on 2017-06-17. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
    28. ^ "Syria: A military commander of Daech Abu Osama Al-Tunisi was killed recently in an airstrike in Raqqa". LiveuaMap. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
    29. ^ "IS Group's Children recruiting officer surrenders to SDF militias". Al-Dorar Al-Shamia. 20 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
    30. ^ Martin Chulov (6 October 2017). "The fall of Raqqa: hunting the last jihadists in Isis's capital of cruelty". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
    31. ^ a b Micallef, Joseph V. (31 October 2017). "Sitrep Raqqa: The Geopolitics of Eastern Syria". military.com.
    32. ^ "The Battle to Oust ISIS From Raqqa Has Stalled". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
    33. ^ Patrick Cockburn (6 June 2017). "Battle to liberate Raqqa from Isis 'will be over quicker than Mosul'". The Independent.
    34. ^ a b c "مدينة الرقة في عام على طرد التنظيم منها….خراب لم يجرِ إعادة إعماره…فلتان أمني… وجثث منتشلة رفعت إلى 3650 مدني ومقاتل استشهدوا وقضوا وقتلوا".
    35. ^ "SDF statement on the Raqqa victory and the future of the city". YPG. 20 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
    36. ^ a b "1,200 ISIS fighters neutralized in Raqqa, 65% of city seized by Kurdish forces". Al-Masdar News. 4 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
    37. ^ Cite error: The named reference stadium was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    38. ^ Davison, John. "Militants trapped in Raqqa center but Syrian Kurd commander sees long battle". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
    39. ^ "Isis could go underground with bunkers full of weapons if it is defeated in Syria and Iraq". Independent.co.uk. 11 October 2017.
    40. ^ Cite error: The named reference militarytimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    41. ^ Cite error: The named reference airwars1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    42. ^ "U.S.-led airstrikes are killing hundreds of civilians in the battle for ISIS-held Raqqa, groups say". The Washington Post. 23 August 2017.
    43. ^ "Civilians trapped as IS mounts last stand in Syria's Raqqa". 22 September 2017.
    44. ^ "Hundreds flee battles in Raqqa". Al Monitor.
    45. ^ "U.S.-backed Syrian force starts battle to capture Raqqa from Islamic State". Reuters. 6 June 2017.
    46. ^ "SDF enter east Raqqa in 'Great Battle' for ISIS stronghold". Rudaw. 6 June 2017.
    47. ^ "Raqqa: Syrian Kurdish-led forces launch offensive on IS 'capital'". BBC News. 6 June 2017.
    48. ^ Dettmer, Jamie (2017-07-10). "Battle to Retake Raqqa a Desperate House-to-House Fight". VOA. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
    49. ^ Malsin, Jared. "Raqqa Is in Ruins, and ISIS in Retreat". Time. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
    50. ^ Ignatius, David (2018-02-14). "The lessons the United States should learn from Raqqa". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
    51. ^ a b "Civilian Casualties: Lessons from the Battle for Raqqa". www.rand.org. 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
    52. ^ Postings, Robert (2018-07-09). "A Guide to the Islamic State's Way of Urban Warfare". Modern War Institute. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
    53. ^ Raqqa: Isis 'capital' liberated by US-backed forces - but civilians face months of hardship with city left devastated Archived 9 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Independent, 17 October 2017.


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