Backed Syrian fighters advancing toward IS-held Raqqa

Describing the relationship between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the YPG as the kinship between an uncle and a niece, Yıldırım expressed his confidence that Turkey’s partners would one day realize this reality.

The UN human rights office has raised concerns about increasing reports of civilian deaths as air strikes escalate.

However, that total, which only includes civilian deaths through April, was still far short of what non-governmental organisations and monitors have estimated.

Airstrikes by the USA -led coalition killed over 100 civilians, including 47 children, on May 25 and 26 in Al Mayadeen, Syria, according to a new report (video below).

The US-led coalition has provided air support and special forces to help the SDF operations near Raqqa. Camps for displaced citizens have been established around the Syrian city, Dillon added, with SDF screening sites in place to prevent IS militants from escaping among the fleeing civilian population.

The coalition “takes all reports of civilian casualties seriously and assesses all reports as thoroughly as possible”, the statement said.

Iraqi men waiting at a security center to have their names checked by Iraqi forces to ensure that they are not members of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS), at the al-Oraibi district in western Mosul, Iraq, 03 June 2017.

A copy of the leaflets provided to Reuters by the Pentagon told the fighters that any movement toward the At Tanf garrison “will be seen as hostile intent and we will defend our forces”.

– Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and a sniper; destroyed 21 fighting positions, three medium machine guns, three mortar systems, two rocket-propelled grenade systems, and two vehicle-borne IEDs; damaged five fighting positions; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and mortar team.

SDF fighters have already sealed off the approaches to Raqa from the north and east, and are close to doing the same with the western approach after new advances.

In numerous incidents, CentCom said civilians “entered the target area after the munition was released”.

Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil, just east of Mosul, said observers are pushing the Iraqi military and the US-led coalition to take care of civilians, despite the intensity of combat against ISIL.

From the start, the generals never said the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria would be easy or quick.

News of the advancements in Syria come as ISIS fighters sealed off Mosul mosque in preparation for a final standoff in the battle against Iraqi forces over their last major stronghold in the country.

The U.S. -led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has killed at least 484 civilians since the start of the campaign, the coalition said in a monthly report released Friday.