BEIRUT (Dispatches) – The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces said on Wednesday its campaign to capture Raqqah from Daesh terrorists group was in its final stages and its fighters had seized 80 percent of the city.
In a statement, the SDF said it had opened a new front against Daesh on the northern edge of Raqqah, describing this as "a feature of the final stages of the Euphrates Wrath campaign, which is nearing its end”.  
The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militants, launched their offensive on Daesh in Raqqah city in June, backed by U.S.-led air strikes and special forces on the ground. The city had served as Daesh’s de facto capital in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday that the SDF had taken more than 90 percent of the city, adding that the major remaining hurdle for the forces was a large concentration of mines in the area.
Daesh captured Raqqah in July 2014 and declared the city its stronghold in Syria. The SDF launched its assault on Raqqah on June 6.
The Syrian army soldiers, backed by allied fighters, are also engaged in counter-terrorism operations around Raqqah.
Daesh has lately retreated from much of the territory under its grip amid sweeping advances by the Syrian forces on the battlefield.
Earlier this month, the Syrian government forces broke the three-year-long Daesh siege on Dayr al-Zawr, which is currently the main Daesh base in the country.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Raqqah in recent months, but up to 25,000 people are estimated to be still trapped in the city.
Separately on Wednesday, the Syrian army released 21 civilians held up in a Daesh hideout on the western outskirts of the city of Dayr al-Zawr.
Additionally, Russian warplanes bombed terrorist targets in the western provinces of Idlib and Hama.
Russia has been conducting air raids against Daesh and other terrorist outfits inside Syria at the Damascus government’s request since September 2015.