River: Euphrates River and Raqqa

river: Raqqa lies on the northern side of the river, according to Brandon Sun. Spokeswoman Cihan Sheikh Ehmed said the SDF, which enjoys the backing of the U.S. military, would launch the battle for Raqqa very soon. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are already encamped around the city's northern and eastern divisions and on Saturday made new progress against IS militants to approach the city from the south bank of the Euphrates River. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF has been engaged in fierce fighting with IS militants along the southern bank of the Euphrates River, around Mansoura, approximately 26 kilometres 16 miles southwest of Raqqa. Raqqa's size poses a new challenge for the SDF, who have captured smaller towns and strongholds from the IS group in northern Syria. The SDF said they were in control of 90 per cent of the town on Saturday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.