US-backed forces announce 'great battle' to capture Syria's Raqqa

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said on June 6 they were launching a new phase in their assault on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group's bastion Raqqa, after advancing to the city's outskirts.
 
"We declare today the start of the great battle to liberate the city of Raqqa, the so-called capital of terrorism and terrorists," SDF spokesman Talal Sello told reporters in the village of Hazima, north of the city.