DAMASCUS, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Friday they have captured two neighborhoods east and west of the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS.
The group said they completely captured the Mashlab neighborhood, the first in the eastern part of Raqqa city. They also said they captured the Jazra west of Raqqa city.
Following capturing those area, the SDF will be clearing the areas of the IS leftovers and explosives.
The SDF posted a photo, showing its fighters tossing an IS flag from atop a building in Jazra, pledging to fully liberate Raqqa city from IS.
Earlier in the day, pro-government Sham FM radio said 12 SDF fighters were killed when targeted by an IS suicide bomber in Mashlab.
This comes days after the Kurdish-led SDF, with the backing of the U.S.-led coalition, announced the commencement of the four stage of their offensive on IS in Raqqa, which marked the first attack to storm the city itself.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, said the Syrian army captured 500 km of areas in the western countryside of Raqqa after entering the administrative borders of that province 48 hours ago.
The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the aim of the Syrian army progress in the countryside of Raqqa is to proceed to take areas from IS in the southern countryside of Raqqa to reach a triangle of areas between Raqqa, the northern province of Aleppo and the central province of Hama.
This will enable the army to isolate IS in the remaining areas under its control in the southern countryside of Aleppo, which will leave IS between two options either to withdraw or to fight to death.
But in terms of the cooperation between the Syrian army and the SDF, none of them declared any possible cooperation in the battle against IS, but observers believe that there is a possible coordination for now.
