Final assault starts on Syria's Raqqa as some Islamic State fighters quit.
AIN ISSA, Syria (Reuters) - U.S.-backed militias said they had launched their final assault on Syria’s Raqqa on Sunday after a convoy of Islamic State fighters left the city, leaving only a hardcore of jihadists to mount a last stand.
“The battle will continue until the whole city is clean,” said a statement by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias.
The SDF said earlier that a group of the jihadists had left in a convoy taking some civilians with them. But there were conflicting accounts as to whether the evacuees included both Syrian and foreign fighters.
