Louisa Loveluck, istanbul
15 MAY 2016
Isil has cancelled holidays for militants in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa as it maximises available manpower ahead of a feared international assault on the city.
Over the past two weeks, the group has accelerated its drive to defend Raqqa, sources inside the area told The Telegraph, digging trenches alongside checkpoints and strengthening a network of underground bunkers.
“Isil cancelled holidays, increased the number of shifts, and asked all members to be present - even the administrators,” said a source in regular contact with civilians inside the city.
Although the extremist group is far from defeat, it is under pressure across several battlefronts, losing strongholds including the Iraqi city of Ramadi in December and the ancient town of Palmyra in March. As Kurdish and Syrian rebel forces prepare to edge towards Raqqa, the city is frequently the target of airstrikes by the US-led coalition, as well as the Syrian air force and Russian warplanes that began an air campaign in the country in late September.
In an attempt to block the view of circling drones, the militants have started hanging sheets across shop-fronts and homes. They are also believed to have moved several key headquarters underground.
Throughout territory held by Isil, the group has built tunnels. In Beiji, home of a key oil refinery and near the cities of Fallujah and Tikrit, Iraqi soldiers and Shia militiamen found underground mazes that had been used to burrow under enemy positions, create bunkers or run pipe to export illicit oil shipments. In the northern city of Sinjar, Kurdish forces said they discovered too many tunnels to count.
Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province in 2014.
Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province in 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/FILES
Flying as part of the US-led coalition, the RAF says it is now using the largest bomb in its inventory - 2,000lb Enhanced Paveway III munitions, known as ‘bunker busters’.
Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for the coalition, said on Friday he believed Isil had declared a state of emergency in Raqqa. “We know this enemy feels threatened, as they should,” he said. “We are going to continue to keep this pressure on them and we expect to see them collapse eventually.”
But Syrian media activists said reports of a state of emergency were overblown, and life for civilians remained unchanged. “The main difference is that fighters are speaking a lot of the big battle that is coming,” said Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi, a member of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently. He said militants were seen piling onto buses, apparently moving them to nearby battlefronts.
On Saturday, Isil overran a government-controlled hospital in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, killing 20 pro-regime forces and taking medical staff hostage as they pushed to cement control of the oil-rich city and its airbase.
As pressure increases on Isil elsewhere, it is falling back on the tactics of a guerrilla-style insurgency that relies increasingly on suicide attacks. More than 100 people have been killed in a string of bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere since Wednesday.
Violence continued on Sunday as Isil launched a dawn assault on a gas plant north of the Iraqi capital.
At least 12 people were killed in the attack, after a car bomb hit the main gate of the plant in the town of Taji, followed by several suicide bombers and a wave of militants who broke into the plant and clashed with security forces.
15 MAY 2016
Isil has cancelled holidays for militants in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa as it maximises available manpower ahead of a feared international assault on the city.
Over the past two weeks, the group has accelerated its drive to defend Raqqa, sources inside the area told The Telegraph, digging trenches alongside checkpoints and strengthening a network of underground bunkers.
“Isil cancelled holidays, increased the number of shifts, and asked all members to be present - even the administrators,” said a source in regular contact with civilians inside the city.
Although the extremist group is far from defeat, it is under pressure across several battlefronts, losing strongholds including the Iraqi city of Ramadi in December and the ancient town of Palmyra in March. As Kurdish and Syrian rebel forces prepare to edge towards Raqqa, the city is frequently the target of airstrikes by the US-led coalition, as well as the Syrian air force and Russian warplanes that began an air campaign in the country in late September.
In an attempt to block the view of circling drones, the militants have started hanging sheets across shop-fronts and homes. They are also believed to have moved several key headquarters underground.
Throughout territory held by Isil, the group has built tunnels. In Beiji, home of a key oil refinery and near the cities of Fallujah and Tikrit, Iraqi soldiers and Shia militiamen found underground mazes that had been used to burrow under enemy positions, create bunkers or run pipe to export illicit oil shipments. In the northern city of Sinjar, Kurdish forces said they discovered too many tunnels to count.
Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province in 2014.
Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province in 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/FILES
Flying as part of the US-led coalition, the RAF says it is now using the largest bomb in its inventory - 2,000lb Enhanced Paveway III munitions, known as ‘bunker busters’.
Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for the coalition, said on Friday he believed Isil had declared a state of emergency in Raqqa. “We know this enemy feels threatened, as they should,” he said. “We are going to continue to keep this pressure on them and we expect to see them collapse eventually.”
But Syrian media activists said reports of a state of emergency were overblown, and life for civilians remained unchanged. “The main difference is that fighters are speaking a lot of the big battle that is coming,” said Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi, a member of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently. He said militants were seen piling onto buses, apparently moving them to nearby battlefronts.
On Saturday, Isil overran a government-controlled hospital in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, killing 20 pro-regime forces and taking medical staff hostage as they pushed to cement control of the oil-rich city and its airbase.
As pressure increases on Isil elsewhere, it is falling back on the tactics of a guerrilla-style insurgency that relies increasingly on suicide attacks. More than 100 people have been killed in a string of bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere since Wednesday.
Violence continued on Sunday as Isil launched a dawn assault on a gas plant north of the Iraqi capital.
At least 12 people were killed in the attack, after a car bomb hit the main gate of the plant in the town of Taji, followed by several suicide bombers and a wave of militants who broke into the plant and clashed with security forces.
