美国军方官员说，美国支持的叙利亚民主力量已经推进到距离伊斯兰国自诩的首都叙利亚拉卡市三公里之内的地方。他们说，从伊斯兰国激进分子手中夺回拉卡控制权的主要战役“有可能在今后几日开始”。
美国领导的打击伊斯兰国联盟的发言人迪龙上校说，叙利亚民主力量“在拉卡周围准备就绪”，上周，他们从伊斯兰国手中夺回350平方公里的地盘。
迪龙说，叙利亚民主力量距离达拉市北部和东部三公里之内，距离该市西部约10公里。
另外一位不愿意透露姓名的美国军方官员对美国之音说：“夺取这座城市的战斗可能在今后几日开始。” 他说：“对拉卡的包围几乎完成”。
美国军方本周早些时候证实，为准备拉卡一战，已经开始向叙利亚的库尔德战士发放武器和车辆，此举使美国和其北约盟友土耳其之间出现裂痕。土耳其声称，叙利亚民主力量的叙利亚库尔德民兵组织是一个恐怖组织，与被取缔的库尔德工人党有联系。土耳其称，恐怖组织库尔德工人党与政府进行了多年的战斗。
迪龙说，叙利亚民主力量已经指示拉卡居民在战斗开始之前撤离该市。那里已有近20万人流离失所。迪龙补充说，在这座叙利亚城市的周围，设立了收容流离失所者的营地，叙利亚民主力量还设置了审查站，以防伊斯兰国激进分子混入逃难的平民中逃跑。
American military officials say U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have pushed within three kilometers of Islamic State’s de-facto capital in Syria, and the major battle for control of Raqqa from Islamic State militants “could begin in the coming days.”
Speaking to reporters from Baghdad, U.S.-led counter ISIS coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said the SDF is “poised around Raqqa,” after gaining 350 square kilometers from Islamic State in Syria in the last week.
The forces are within three kilometers from Raqqa city to the north and the east and about 10 kilometers from the city to the west, according to Dillon.
“The fight for the city could begin in the coming days,” a U.S. military official separately told VOA on the condition of anonymity. “The encirclement of Raqqa is almost complete.”
The U.S. military confirmed earlier this week that it has started distributing weapons and vehicles to Syrian Kurdish fighters in preparation for the Raqqa battle. That move has placed the United States at odds with NATO ally Turkey, which contends the SDF’s Syrian Kurdish militia is a terrorist group affiliated with the outlawed PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a terror group that has been battling the Turkish state for many years.
Dillon said the SDF has instructed Raqqa citizens to leave the city ahead of the fighting, with nearly 200,000 people already displaced. Camps for displaced citizens have been established around the Syrian city, Dillon added, with SDF screening sites in place to prevent Islamic State militants from escaping among the fleeing civilian population.