US helicopters drop Kurdish, Arab fighters west of Raqqa

Kurdish and Arab fighters dropped by American helicopters over a region west of the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa quickly captured at least five villages and so cut jihadist concentrations in the northwestern Syria from their Raqqa stronghold. DEBKAfile: This operation was the opening shot of the US-led campaign to isolate the Islamic State’s Syrian capital before storming it. The YPG Kurdish militiamen are fighting alongside north Syrian Shammar tribesmen. Read DEBKAfile's Exclusive Report on ISIS countermoves.