DAMASCUS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) retook a major neighborhood in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, days after Islamic State (IS) militants recaptured it, a monitor group reported on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF succeeded in recapturing Sina'a neighborhood as they stormed the old city of Raqqa from the Bab Baghdad area.
This was the second time that the Kurdish-led SDF, a group of Kurdish, Arabs and Assyrians, retook the Sina'a neighborhood since the battle to liberate Raqqa started a month ago.
Late last month, IS militants stormed that key neighborhood again, pushing the SDF to retreat to the nearby neighborhood of Mashlab in eastern Raqqa.
The importance of the Sina'a neighborhood comes from its location as it is adjacent to the old city in central Raqqa.
With the help of the U.S.-led coalition, the SDF recently succeeded in laying a siege on Raqqa, the de facto capital for IS in Syria, as it pushes further to dislodge IS from the city.
