IS plans to use chemical weapons in Raqqa: Activists
Fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria carry their weapons during a parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey January 2, 2014. Picture taken January 2, 2014. REUTERS/Yaser Al-Khodor (SYRIA – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) – RTX170UI
Raqqa (Syria News) The Islamic State (IS) extremist group is planning to use chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Raqqa against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), if the latter advanced in the city, information by Syrian activists revealed, on Wednesday, according to Alsumaria News.
The information raised concerns and fears about the lives of tens of thousands of residents in Raqqa.
A Kurdish official said, on Tuesday, that the SDF are on the verge of seizing full control of the southern neighborhoods of the IS-held city.
Noteworthy, SDF launched its U.S.-backed campaign to seize the city of Raqqa in early June. The assault on Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria overlapped with the campaign to drive IS from the Iraqi city of Mosul, where IS was defeated last month.
Last week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the SDF has captured half of Raqqa, while indicated that the IS lost large areas in the southern and eastern countryside of the city, after battles with the Syrian army.