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A Very Long and Nasty Fight

As Iraqi forces close in on ISIS fighters stranded in eastern Mosul - the group's last urban bastion in Iraq - U.S.-backed Syrian rebels are simultaneously closing in on Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State. Supported by coalition weapons, airstrikes, military advisers, and now several hundred U.S. Marines, the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have advanced to within 50 kilometers of Raqqa. However, challenges, both tactical and political, remain ahead. The Cipher Brief’s Fritz Lodge spoke with Aaron Stein, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, to investigate both the make-up of the forces advancing on Raqqa, and the strategic and political hurdles that will need to be overcome to finally eject ISIS from its symbolic capital in Syria.

The Cipher Brief:  What is the current status of the U.S.-backed campaign to take Raqqa [Operation Wrath of Euphrates]? Who are the major Syrian and coalition players, and how far has the operation progressed?

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