Tuesday, October 25, 2016

US rules out cooperation with Russia to "liberate" Raqqa

The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, said during a briefing on Tuesday that the U.S. will not cooperate with Russia to liberate the ISIS stronghold of Al-Raqqa in northern Syria.



  
 
"Russia is not a participant in our Raqqa plans," Carter stated during a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves le Drian, on Tuesday.

“Russia is not a participant in our Raqqa plan,” Carter told reporters at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday.

“We do deconflict our coalition operations with Russia through a very professional military-to-military channel. That channel is active every day, and everyone behaves themselves very professionally on both sides in that channel,” he said.

Carter stated that the U.S. has already begun planning out the offensive to expel the Islamic State terrorists from Raqqa City.

“We have already begun laying the groundwork with our partners to commence the isolation of Raqqa,” Carter stated. “There will be overlap [with Mosul operation]. That is part of our plan and we are prepared for that.”

The secretary pointed out that “capable, motivates” local Syrian forces will lead the offensive on the city.

 [almasdarnews.com]
25/10/16

1 comment:

  1. The US-led coalition is "laying the groundwork" for the "isolation" of Raqa, the Islamic State group stronghold in Syria, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday...

    "We have already begun laying the groundwork for our partners to commence the isolation of Raqa," Carter said after meeting coalition defence ministers in Paris to discuss the aftermath of the planned capture of Mosul from IS in Iraq.

    "Today we resolved to follow through with that same sense of urgency and focus on enveloping and collapsing ISIL's control of Raqa," he added, using another acronym for IS.

    Carter and ministers from 12 other countries attended the talks, which come a week after Iraqi forces backed by Kurdish fighters launched a major operation to retake Mosul, Iraq's second-biggest city.

    French President Francois Hollande reiterated warnings about IS fighters in Mosul fleeing across the border to Raqa.

    He also urged vigilance over the prospect of foreign militants returning home from the battlefield.
    AFP

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