No Guns, No Money, Ready to Hit ISIS HQ

  

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Syrian Kurdish and Arab rebels say they are poised to attack the ISIS capital of Raqqa. But there is much work yet to be done, and arms are still in short supply.

AYN AL-ISSA, Syria — A young Kurdish fighter manning a control post trains his binoculars on the unofficial border between the so-called Islamic State, and the region the Kurds call Rojava. This is the front line for what may be the next major U.S.-backed move against ISIS—a major offensive to take Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State in Syria.

On these borders, a fragile coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters say they are preparing for a decisive battle with their boots on the ground and coalition warplanes in the air.

From time to time, sounds of machinegun fire and mortars can be heard.

“Stop, stop!” a fighter from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) shouts at civilians who are fleeing from Raqqa. He fires a warning shot, telling them to come forward slowly, one by one.

The Kurdish and Arab fighters have separate checkpoints at a stretched-out front line inside Raqqa province but about 50 kilometers from the city. They are only separated from the ISIS by a small desert flatland of a few thousand meters with farmhouses scattered here and there. They are armed, at least for the moment, with little but some old Russian Kalashnikovs and Doskha 23mm anti-aircraft guns. But in the war on ISIS they may be the best hope Washington has right now.

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Source: The Daily Beast