The forces attempting to liberate Raqqa do not have the modern weapons and training which were necessary in the battle for Mosul.
The city of Mosul was declared as "liberated" from Islamic State two weeks ago, but a very different and challenging fight is looming 231 miles to Mosul's west in the Syrian city of Raqqa.
Mosul's liberation from Islamic State came at great cost both to civilians and to members of the Iraqi Security Forces who fought an urban war on a scale which hasn't been seen since World War Two.
The ten months of continuous battle for Mosul lasted longer than the Battle of Stalingrad, and the ISF suffered close to 1,000 killed and more than 6,000 wounded.
The cost of civilian lives is also believed to be very high, though the exact numbers are still to be determined.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: A good analysis on why the battle for Raqqa will be different .... and probably longer to accomplish when compared to Mosul.
1 comment:
I'll stick to my original prediction, Raqqa will fall in half that Mosul did. The Kurds just seem to handle ISIS better than anyone else in the region, under weapon-ed or not.
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