DAMASCUS, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) entered on Saturday parts of the Romaniyeh neighborhood, the third to be stormed by the SDF in Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS), since the group declared a broad offensive on the city last Tuesday, a monitor group reported.
The SDF, which comprises of Kurd, Arab and Assyrian fighters and led by the Kurdish YPG militia, entered the southwestern part of Romaniyeh in the western part of Raqqa, a day after the SDF announced capturing the neighborhoods of Mashlab and Jazra in the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said many civilian casualties have fallen as a result of the airstrikes of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition and the shelling of the SDF on the residential part of Raqqa.
It placed the death toll over the past 24 hours at 13 people.
The London-based watchdog group said, however, that the SDF advance in the Division 17 base has been hindered due to the too many mines planted by the IS in that military base, which belonged to the Syrian army before the IS militants took over the city and declared it their capital in 2014.
The SDF announced their campaign to liberate Raqqa under the title of "Euphrates Wrath" in November last year, and declared their fourth stage of the attack to storm the Raqqa city last Tuesday, after months of battles at the outskirts and countryside of the city.
