KOBANI, Syria: Advances against Daesh in its stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa have slowed down amid stiff resistance from the militants, said the spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting the group.
US Army Col. Ryan Dillon estimates there are around 2,000 IS militants in the northern city, saying they are using civilians and children as human shields.
“We know this is not going to be an easy fight,” Dillon told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Thursday night.
The US has partnered with the Kurdish-dominated coalition fighting force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its fight against Daesh in Syria. In the seven weeks since they launched their offensive for Raqqa, they have encircled the militants and breached the heavily fortified Old City, gaining a foothold inside.
Dillon said the Kurdish-led forces are still making steady advances, but acknowledged a slower pace than the first two weeks of the operation, which saw quick and immediate progress. He said the distance between the SDF forces on the eastern side of the city and on the western fronts is now just under 2 kilometers.
Dillon said Daesh militants are using many of the same tactics employed in the Iraqi city of Mosul, including the use of tunnel networks, vehicle-borne IEDs, drones.
But he said in Raqqa, more than in Mosul, the militant group relies more on using civilians, sometimes children, to prevent coalition forces from striking specific areas in the city.
“We know that it is not going to be an overnight success but the coalition and the SDF will continue to push forward and will be victorious,” he said.
Dillon also said the coalition is concerned about Turkish shelling and threats to launch a cross-border operation into Afrin, a Kurdish-controlled enclave in western Syria near the border with Turkey, saying the SDF should remain focused on defeating Daesh in Raqqa.
He said, however, that the Raqqa campaign has so far not been affected.
“As far as we know the same amount of forces that were dedicated to defeating Daesh in Raqqa from the beginning has sustained and has stayed the same,” he said.
Daesh putting up stiff resistance in Raqqa: US official
Daesh putting up stiff resistance in Raqqa: US official
Hoping for better year ahead, Gazans bid farewell to ‘nightmare’
- Humanitarian agencies have warned that shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies persist, while winter conditions are worsening life in overcrowded camps
GAZA CITY: As 2025 draws to a close, Palestinians in Gaza are marking the new year not with celebration, but with exhaustion, grief and a fragile hope that their “endless nightmare” might finally end.
For residents of the battered territory, daily life is a struggle for survival.
Much of Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins, electricity remains scarce and hundreds of thousands of people live in makeshift tents after being repeatedly displaced by the two years of fighting that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.
“We in the Gaza Strip are living in an endless nightmare,” said Hanaa Abu Amra, a displaced woman in her thirties living in Gaza City. “We hope that this nightmare will end in 2026 ... The least we can ask for is a normal life — to see electricity restored, the streets return to normal and to walk without tents lining the roads,” she said.
Across Gaza, a territory of more than 2 million people, scenes of hardship are commonplace.
The outgoing year brought relentless loss and fear, said Shireen Al-Kayali.
“We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” she said.
“We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”
Her experience reflects that of countless Gazans who have been forced to flee repeatedly, often with little warning, taking with them only what they could carry.
Entire families have been uprooted, livelihoods destroyed, and communities fragmented as the war dragged on for two years.
Despite the devastation, some residents cling to the belief that the new year might bring an end to the fighting and a chance to rebuild.
For many Gazans, hope has become an act of resilience, particularly after the truce that came into effect on October 10 and has largely halted the fighting.
“We still hope for a better life in the new year, and I call on the free world to help our oppressed people so we can regain our lives,” said Khaled Abdel Majid, 50, who lives in a tent in Jabalia camp.
Faten Al-Hindawi hoped the truce would finally end the war.
“We will bid farewell to 2025, leaving behind its pain, and we hope that 2026 will be a year of hope, prayer, determination and success stories.”
