30 percent of Raqqah cleared of Daesh: US

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON (AA) – Thirty percent of Syria's northern city of Raqqah has been cleared of Daesh, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

"ISIS terrorists have been surrounded and besieged," Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition against Daesh, Brett McGurk, said on Twitter, adding that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been advancing from four directions.

The U.S. has supported the PKK/PYD along with several other Arab militia groups under the umbrella of the SDF, more than two-thirds of which consists of the PKK/PYD.

The U.S. views the SDF as a "reliable partner" on in its fight against Daesh in Raqqa and continues to provide it with arms and equipment against strong objection by Turkey which views the PKK/PYD as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group.

The PKK has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years that has led to the deaths of more than 40,000 people.

Regarded as a terrorist group by the U.S. and EU, it is also involved in illicit drug production and trafficking.