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US-backed Kurdish fighters advance against ISIS as battle to liberate Raqqa reaches its 'final stages'

A fighter from Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sits in a military tank in Raqqa, Syria September 16, 2017. | Reuters/Rodi Said

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has announced that the battle to liberate Raqqa from the Islamic State has now reached its final stages and its fighters have captured 80 percent of the city.

In an overnight offensive against ISIS, the SDF, the US-backed coalition of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and Yazidi fighters, recaptured grain silos in the northern outskirts of Raqqa and opened up a new front, which has been described by top command as a "feature of the final stages of the Euphrates Wrath campaign, which is nearing its end."

"We can say that 80 percent of the city of Raqqa has been liberated," the SDF said in a statement on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

Kurdish fighters described the battle to liberate the silos as "fierce," adding that ISIS rigged the structures with explosives.

The Syriac Military Council, a military organization comprised of Syriac Christians aligned with the SDF, later released an updated map showing the recently liberated silos, which were said to be a favorite strategic holdout for ISIS fighters since the battle to liberate the Syrian city of Manbij.

Some soldiers on the front lines told The Independent they believed that the operation to liberate the city will end in the next week or two.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Only five percent of the city is now under the control of ISIS, and that the remaining militants have nearly run out of food and munitions.

It has been estimated a month ago that less than 1,000 militants remain in Raqqa, which is the de facto capital of ISIS. Most commanders and other important figures have reportedly fled to the jihadists' last strongholds in the eastern desert.

As the U.S.-backed coalition continued the offensive against ISIS, the Syrian army, backed by Russian and Syrian warplanes, also continued to advance toward Raqqa. The army has captured about 100 kilometers (160 miles) of the west bank of the Euphrates this month.

The Observatory noted that the Syrian army reached the Raqqa provincial border on Wednesday, while other Syrian troops have crossed to the eastern side of the Euphrates river on Monday.

That same day, the U.S.-backed coalition warned the Syrian army against any further advanced on the eastern riverbank.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that the waters of Euphrates rose as soon as the Syrian army began crossing the river. The ministry asserted that the only way that could have happened was if the upstream dams held by the SDF had been opened.

At least 300,000 residents have fled Raqqa in recent weeks, but 15,000 are still believed to be trapped in the city's dense central neighborhoods with very little food and water.