U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces launch campaign to retake ISIS capital Raqqa

U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian forces announced their plan Sunday to retake the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa
(Image credit: Arab 24 Network/Associated Press)

Syrian forces supported by the United States and led by Kurdish fighters reported Sunday they have begun a campaign to retake Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital city of the Islamic State.

"The general command of the Syria Democratic Forces announces the blessed start of its major military campaign to liberate the city of Raqqa," said Jehan Sheikh Amad, an SDF spokeswoman, at a press conference introducing the operation.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.