US-backed force in toughest Raqa fighting yet: spokeswoman

The US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance waging the more than four-month-old battle to wrest the Syrian city of Raqa from jihadists was engaged today in its toughest fighting yet, a spokeswoman said.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces are currently waging their toughest battles yet," said Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, spokeswoman for the operation launched in early June to retake the Islamic State group's one-time de facto Syrian capital.