Pentagon officials today claimed ISIS has declared a “state of emergency” in their capital city of Raqqa, saying that this move proves “this enemy feels threatened, as they should,” by ongoing US military operations against them.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren announced the claim, but conceded he wasn’t sure what the state of emergency would actually mean in the context to the city. Pentagon officials suggested this claim came from things they’d read about Raqqa on “social media.”
Warren went on to say that the “Syrian Democratic Forces, along with the Syrian Arab Coalition,” are increasingly close to Raqqa. Both terms refer to the same coalition, essentially a combination of the Kurdish YPG and some trivially small Christian militias in the same area.
Despite Warren’s claims, there are no indications that the YPG are any closer to Raqqa now than they’ve been for months, and though YPG officials have talked up an imminent takeover of Raqqa throughout that period, they have yet to actually make a move against the city.