US-backed forces have launched their final assault on the remaining Islamic State (IS) militants in Raqqa.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says it began the offensive on Sunday, after a convoy of IS fighters and their families left the city, along with hundreds of civilians.
No foreign fighters were allowed to join them, and now make up most of the remaining 200 to 300 militants, SDF spokesman Talal Selo said.
Raqqa was IS’s de facto capital.
It was one of the first large cities the group took over in 2014, and had held control there for three years.
But the SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, has been besieging the city for nearly four months.
In a statement released as the battle began, the group said they would not stop “until the whole city is clean of the terrorists who refused to surrender, including the foreign fighters”.
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SOURCE: BBC News
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