Operation Featherweight: Month 36, Week 4, Day 2.

On November 6th 2016 (6/11/16) the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) launched an operation designated; "Wrath of Euphrates" to liberate the Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The SDF are a coalition of forces made up of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the Christian Syriac Military Council (MSF) and fragments of what used to be known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) alongside Arab tribal forces local to north-east Syria.

They are supported by the US-led coalition Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR) who have embedded Special Operations Forces (SOF's) and conventional US military artillery units within the SDF.

The city of Raqqa lies within the Euphrates River basin. It sits around 120km (70 miles) south of the town of Ackackale on Syria's border with Turkey and around 250km (150 miles) west of Syria's border with Iraq. It has functioned as ISIL's de facto capital in Syria since 2013.

The first stage of the Wrath of Euphrates operation was to advance SDF forces close to Raqqa. This was carried out in three phases;

The first phase of the operation launched on November 6th 2016 (6/11/16) was to advance south from the town of Ayn Issa towards Raqqa. This was completed on November 25th 2016 (25/11/16) with the SDF taking up positions roughly 25km (15 miles) north of Raqqa.

The second phase of the operation launched on December 10th 2016 (10/12/16) was for the SDF to sweep down from the town of Sarrin along the banks of the Euphrates to the Tabqa Dam complex. This was completed on January 20th 2017 (20/1/17) with the SDF taking up positions at Jabour Castle at Lake Assad some 10km (6 miles) west of the Tabqa Dam and 40km (25 miles) west of Raqqa.

The third phase of the operation launched on February 4th (4/2/17) was to secure the territory east of Raqqa cutting it off from the city of Deir-ez-Zour around 120km (70 miles) south-east of Raqqa along the Euphrates. This third phase was completed on March 19th (19/3/17) with the SDF taking up positions around al-Karamah which is roughly 30km (20 miles) south-east of Raqqa.

During the course of these three phases the SDF liberated in excess of 4,200kmsq (2,500 milesq) of territory from ISIL.

On March 22nd (22/3/17) the SDF launched an operation to liberate both the town of Tabqa and the Tabqa Dam. This was completed on May 11th (11/5/17).

On June 6th (6/6/17) the SDF launched an operation to liberate the city of Raqqa itself. This was launched on three axis. North, West and East.

The northern axis advanced on the sprawling former Syrian military - Division 17 - base to the north of the city. At some 50kmsq (30 milesq) this Division 17 is almost half the size of Raqqa itself. As of July 11th (11/7/17) the SDF now control some 60-70% of the Division 17 base.

The western axis began by advancing into the Jazra suburb on the western side of Raqqa. They then proceeded to liberate the Sabahiya, Romaniyah, al-Qadisiyyah and al-Hattin districts all sitting on the western side of Raqqa.

On July 3rd (3/7/17) the western axis entered the Yarmouk district at the most south-westerly tip of Raqqa. They currently control around 10-15% of the Yarmouk district while fighting continues in the an-Nadah and al-Baryd districts which sit east of the Romaniyah district and north-east of the al-Qadisiyyah and al-Hattin districts.

The eastern axis began by advancing into the Mashlab district at the most south-easterly tip of Raqqa on June 6th (6/6/17). Having liberated the Mashlab district on June 9th (9/6/17) the eastern axis proceeded to the liberate the al-Sinaa district directly to the west on June 15th (15/6/17).

The eastern axis then liberated the Bitani district which sits directly to the north of al-Sinaa district on June 17th (17/6/17). This allowed them to enter the Rawdah district which sits north-west of the Bitani district on June 28th (28/6/17).

On July 2nd (2/7/17) the eastern axis entered the Hisham Abdulmalik district at the very south of Raqqa on the banks of the Euphrates. On July 6th (6/7/17) the eastern axis was able to enter the al-Mahdi, ar-Rashid and ar-Rafiqah neighbourhoods of Raqqa's Old City district. This sit directly to the west of the al-Sinaa and Bitani districts.

The SDF are currently in control of roughly 95% of al-Mahdi neighbourhood, 5% of ar-Rashid neighbourhood and 30% of ar-Rafiqah neighbourhood. They also control around 30% of the Hisham Abdulmalik district and 50% of Rawdah district.

While the advances have been taking place within Raqqa the SDF have also been conducting a west-to-east sweep along the southern banks of the Euphrates.

On June 29th (29/6/17) this succeeded in completely cutting Raqqa off from the outside world. This sweep has continued with the SDF yesterday (11/7/17) reaching positions roughly 15km (9 miles) south-east of Raqqa. This puts them in control of the village of Ukayrishah which had served as an important oil transit site for ISIL.

Within the YPG element of the SDF there is an International Brigade of foreign volunteer fighters. They in part are deployed in the east-to-west sweep south of Raqqa.

On July 5th (5/7/17) an International Brigade patrol was ambushed by ISIL. This resulted in the deaths of three volunteers;

• Luke Rutter. Aged 22 years old from Birkenhead, UK.

• Nicholas Warden. Aged 29 years old from New York State, USA.

• Robert Grodt. Aged 28 from California, USA.

17:00 on 12/7/17 (UK date).