U.S.-backed fighters say ISIS 'is on the verge of being finished' in Raqqa

Syrians flee fighting in Raqqa
(Image credit: Bulent Kilic/Getty Images)

Kurdish fighters working with the United States to recapture the Islamic State's de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, on Saturday said victory in the besieged city is imminent.

Raqqa "may finally be cleared of the jihadists on Saturday or Sunday," Reuters reports the coalition troops predicted. About 100 ISIS militants have surrendered since Friday, and Kurdish militia representative Nouri Mahmoud said ISIS "is on the verge of being finished."

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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.