Syria's Raqa next in line of anti-IS campaign

The Syrian city of Raqa, the Islamic State group's de facto capital, stands next in line in the battle against jihadists after this week's assault on Mosul in Iraq.
French President Francois Hollande has warned that IS jihadists under attack by Iraqi and Kurdish forces in Mosul are already fleeing across the border to Raqa.
"We can't afford mistakes in the pursuit of the terrorists who are already leaving Mosul for Raqa," he said, pointing to the Syrian city as the next target.
Today, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the international coalition lined up against IS must now set its sights on Raqa.

"We need to do both things, Mosul in Iraq and Raqa in Syria," Blinken told radio station RTL in Paris, speaking in French.
"After Mosul, we'll look at Raqa, absolutely. Raqa is the most urgent, that's the town where Daesh (IS) plans its attacks overseas. Raqa is the real capital," he added.

The 7,500-strong US-led coalition is carrying out air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria, as well as providing training, arms and equipment to local forces opposed to the jihadists.
Raqa on the Euphrates River, near the Turkish border and home to more than 200,000 people, in March 2013 became the first provincial capital in Syria to fall into the hands of rebels, at the time Al-Nusra Front, then Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the country.

But tensions soon erupted into clashes between Al-Nusra and fellow jihadists of a precursor of the Islamic State group.
The latter imposed Islamic dress code in schools and attacked churches in Raqa as they imposed a rule of terror marked by kidnappings and public beheadings.