together, these men and women make up the syrian democratic forces, or sdf.includes arabs, but is led by the kurds. we're heading towards the centre of raqqa. islamic state fighters are holed up in the old city, just a few hundred metres away. everyone is on edge. a sound overhead signals the presence of an attack drone. what's happening is we've just driven down these narrow side streets. suddenly there's gunfire overhead, everyone‘s looking up in the sky, searching for these is drones. this is urban warfare. there are no realfront lines. the kurdish led sdf are not on their own in this fight. the americans have quietly built up a presence on the ground here in northern syria, providing weapons, training and firepower. with us help they've chased islamic state out of traditionally kurdish areas and beyond. expanding their control across the euphrates and into mainly arab territory to the west. this is manbij. the syrian democratic forces took the city last august, after two and a half years under is rule. this building was their courthouse. here, islamic sta

about a quarter of it is now controlled by kurdish—led syrian democratic forces, according to the usilitary. turkey's president recep tayyip erdogan has told the bbc that membership of the european union was not indispensable for his country, criticising the eu for being insincere. he also said he hoped for a free trade deal with britain once it leaves the eu and rejected criticism of turkey's record on press freedom. now it's time for world business report. no more life in the fast lane for your web search? check your internet speed today, as many major websites are on a go slow in protest at us plans to scrap net neutrality rules. the boss of us bankjp morgan chase warns that what happens to banking jobs in london after brexit is no longer in the hands of the uk government. welcome to world business report. i'm rachel horne. in a minute, rico will tell us about an interesting deal in the music streaming world. but first: get ready to take a deep breath when you go online today because some of the most popular websites will be running slowly. companies like facebook, netflix, and am

the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces have breached the old city and control about a quarter of thelitary say. as hanan razek reports, the battle is taking its toll on civilians. pushing deeper into the capital of the self—declared caliphate. kurdish and arab forces have surrounded raqqa and now they are advancing into the old town. as the forces make progress, civilians flee. people are escaping the violence a nyway people are escaping the violence anyway they can. this cattle truck is what this family crammed into it in their search for a safe shelter. some of those fleeing the city have decided not to go too far. just a few kilometres away from raqqa, people have begun setting up makeshift tents. despite the dire conditions, they hope they will be able to go back home soon. the push towards raqqa started at the end of last year with heavy airstrikes in and around the city. according to the un, at least 300 civilians died in raids since march alone. with an estimated 100,000 people still left inside the city, there are growing fears for the safety. north of the city, a camp has be

another sign is the syrian democratic forces fighting in the city of rock and now, that is why they need support. host: anti-i.s. forces are reportedly in control of parts of raqqa. how close are they to proclaiming that city and pushing out i.s.? >> in the beginning of the operation, one month ago, he operation was going very fast in the beginning, but now it is facing more resistance of isis. they have taken 20% of raqqa now. the expectation the rest of the fight will be very tough. it will be several months before raqqa is retaken. host: what is i.s.'s capacity to strike back as it loses ground in iraq and syria? >> isis is slowly move -- losing much of its territory, this doesn't mean -- they have sleeper cells and support. you still have to defeat their ideology. there is still a possibility in syria and iraq will be attacks by isis, maybe even in europe. we don't know that yet. host: vladimir, thank you very much. here are the other stories making headlines around the world. turkish police have killed five suspected i.s. militants in a firefight they erected -- that erupted in a sy

states is communicating and continuing to work with the ytd, the uid and the guys at the syrian democratic forces but we know who provides most of the fighting power and particularly the leadership which is the light e.g., the kurdish military. that problem is going to remain or some time. what will change it however, at least on the margins is first of all after isis is finished, the united states and turkey are going to be sitting and to some degree with this new agreement, jordan and israel as silent partners are going to be sitting on a considerable amount of syrian territory. that have been well defended against anybody who tried to push into it. working with local forces who however disorganized and leveraging at each other's throats, none of whom want to go back under resident aside. the syrian regime. in an environment where the whole region is concerned about iran building on the defeat of isis and iraq and syria to expand its hold over the northern middle east area that will be the big question. i would like to say this is where the united states is going to be, i don't know where turke

in an eastern district, the syrian democratic forces are meeting in the detective capital. up to 50,000 civilians may be trapped in the remains of the city. >> availability of food, water, medicine, electricity and other essentials has bn dwindling with the situation rapidly deteriorating. it is apparent that trapped civilians need to be able to get out to reach safety and protection. >> according to the united nations, the intensified fighting has been more dangerous for residents to escape. 300 civilians have died in the past month. in recent weeks, hundreds of families have risked their lives to free themselves from the grip of islamic control. some of the 200,000 residents and up at eight caps on like -- cmapamps like this one. >> there was fighting and air strikes and artillery, we were caught up in the meadows, we had to leave. thank god everyone was ok. >> tonight, in a sign that the end might be inside, the man who led the takeover of raqqa, abu bakr al-baghdadi has been killed. brent: concerns are growing for the most famous political prisoner. he is critically wit

syrian democratic forces, backed by the united states. over the past few weeks they have advanced rapidly towards the city center. this kurdish commanders says they islamic state militants are only firing mortar shells and rockets, and claims their spirits are low. arrival of reinforcements last weekend, sdf troops are reported to have taken another major step forward, breaking through the wall guarding the old city. ae u.s. military says it's warplanes based in the region fired missiles to punch 2 holes in the medieval walls surrounding the old city. were unable to take the heavilyside fortified area where it is estimated 2000 islamic state fighters are holding out. among those involved in this battle is a british man. we have made excellent inroads into the city. among theonfidence sdf fighters on the ground, it is incredibly high. we looking to see raqqa completely done. it is the heart of the so-called islamic state. reporter: to the east iraqi troops are very close to pushing the islamic state completely out of the other major strong

meanwhile on the ground syrian democratic forces say they are making progress.ecapturing a large neighborhood on the western outskirts of the city. the district has been liberated. we are taking steady and sound steps. what is important to us is not speed but freeing civilians and illuminating the islamic state group. >> the syrian observatory for human rights says it has advanced but has not yet fully recaptured the district. it's estimated it now controls one third of the city. violent clashes have also taken , whereouth of raqqa government forces have eliminated a string of oil fields backed by russian airstrikes. fiercets have put up resistance of using car bombs, explosive devices and drones. progress has also been hampered by landmines with devastating consequences for civilians trying to flee. hundreds have left the city. the u.n. says up to 50,000 are still trapped. >> a group of teenage afghan girls that was granted 11th hour visas to enter the united states for robotics competition have been offering their thanks to the president and those who campaign

confirmed but it's believed that eight children could be among the dead this comes as the syrian democratic forces backed by u.s. strikes are waging an offensive against the terrorists there. of tens of thousands of people have fled the violence in recent months and according to unicef around half of them are children earlier we discussed the situation with. a representative for unicef and syria. i myself have visited one of the compass in ninety eight south and i cannot imagine a harsher environment done that especially in the summer months where the heat wave is really really. suffering on this children who has been traveling for weeks the stories that they share very hard most of them traveled for weeks four weeks six weeks then they are arriving every week and hydrated in the camps and some of them are returning. and because they don't want to be a fly away from their homes so that they can go back quickly when i can so that in that way out of need and we also know that in the coming weeks more people could be displaced because the fighting the fighting if it's if i'd buy a date. the u.s. forc

well the battle for iraq has been waging for the syrian democratic forces are trying to push i said ofthe city kurdish fighters that breach through the walls of the old city for the first time an r.t. . to the front line. well back to the g. twenty in our french president money will mccrone is yet to arrive for the summit but the online community has already been given a lot of attention to how he may be received there given his history. this spokesman told us that we were a little shy in versailles and though we should not hesitate to express ourselves during this speech. for the thief. in the city depicted. on the soaps. i. i'll be back with more on the big stories of the day in just a where for a minute stay with or to international if you can. when we see on television left wing the sick advocates left wingers out there and they're shutting down professors from speaking at colleges so the shutting down colleges. that this is an example of them being or acting in an offer terry fowler a tarion passé become little dictators yes and this is would link to the fact that as children they

together these men and women make up the syrian democratic force. who stf two of us and the lawns that includes arabs but is led by the curb? you know. that success against i. s. has come thanks in no small part to backing from the united states. the americans have quietly built up a presence on the ground providing weapons training and fun. come on the sunscreen and head units are on the western front. it's a tight squeeze inside a home made on the truck with a cup of have fighters. driving towards the center of russia. islamic state that's supposed to be surrounded inside the old city but allg tunnels. and they frequently pop up we don't expect the. but these fights is that coming up against the highest snipers. in all of these streets around here of them that they've got drones they've got suicide commerce is going to be a very very. hard fight into the center of the rock. it sure their way into the city house by house. yeah we're looking at one but you hit. some points fight is a so close they can hear i. s. in the building across the street. th

together these men and women make up the syrian democratic forces.bs but is led by the kurds. their success against is has come thanks in no small part to backing from the united states. the americans have quietly built up a presence on the ground, providing weapons, training and firepower. this commander and her unit are on the western front. it isa her unit are on the western front. it is a tight squeeze inside the home armoured truck with a couple of herfighters home armoured truck with a couple of her fighters driving towards the centre of raqqa. islamic state is supposed to be surrounded inside the old city. but is have built tunnels. they frequently pop—up way you do not expect them. —— where you do not expect them. these fighters are coming up against is snipers in all of these streets. 0ther coming up against is snipers in all of these streets. other than that they have drones, suicide carbons. it will be a very hard fight into the centre of raqqa. inching their way into the city house by house. some fighters are so close, they can hear is in

backed syrian democratic forces the fighting is centered on the southwestern neighborhood. of yarmouk as well as in an area close to the old city pets according to the uk based syrian. observatory for human rights the stf states that eleven militants have been killed since those clashes broke counts on sunday. schools of civilians continue to pour out of the jihadist groups regional boston. after that alliance of kurdish in our points is launched their offensive to liberate the city back. in june. now the spot between qatar and a string of its gulf neighbors rumbles on this monday the uae's foreign minister has denied reports that his country was involved in the hacking. of qatar's state news agency on walk on cash is also warned the sovereign states. that it could no longer belong to the gulf cooperation council if it undermines regional security bolivia sallisaw winspear hustle. diplomatic deadlock now compounded by allegations of hacking. canton has accused the united arab emirates of infiltrating state news agency. after report was published in the washington post. chall

meanwhile fist fighting is taking place as the syrian democratic forces are pushing islamic states out of the city of raka kurdish fighters have bridged through the walls of the old city for the first time i went to the front line. of course i just. i. know. the u.s. secretary of state said that america would potentially be willing to deepen cooperation with russia in fighting terrorists in syria with the details is not against if. well the tone of the statement was somewhat neutral more so than we've come to expect it was even corporative but there were its own twists and turns in it for example the united states said that it is open to working with russia on stablish a no fly zone over syria working out to gether a joint mechanism when the united states talks about no fly zones there's a lot of suspicion everybody remembers what happened in libya where the u.s. and its nato allies established a no fly zone for humanitarian purposes to ease the suffering of civilians only for it to turn into a we fly you don't deserve where the united states bombed you know gadhafi his father his figh

and syrian democrat forces also backed by the u.s. have surrounded embattled raqqah. >>> and we have an update tonight on that plane that crashed on to the l.a. freeway, exploding into a ball of fire. new details emerging now about the heroic movements when drivers launched into action. saving the pilot and his passengers. here's abc's marci gonzalez. >> reporter: tonight, ntsb investigators trying to figure out caused this plane to plummet from the sky. crashing just 43 seconds after it was cleared for takeoff. >> hey, we got a mayday. >> reporter: the pilot and his wife, both now in stable condition. after frantic radioing in on as the plane went down. >> i lost my right engine. >> reporter: the twin-engine registered to a private company in florida, slamming on to the busy 405 freeway. >> it's a plane. >> reporter: the plane and its carts clipping three vehicles before bursting into flames. >> his wing came across the front of my hood. >> reporter: this off-duty fire capta captain, just one of the good samaritan samaritans. >> be c

the city, a neighborhood emptied of civilians where american-backed fighters known as the syrian democratic forces are clawing back ground from isis one block at a time. ( gunfire ) isis is now surrounded in raqqa, an estimated 2500 fighters are being pummeled by u.s. air strikes. but as they did in mosul, they are choosing to wreak more death, rather than surrendering. when part of our team went forward they were spotted by an isis sniper. our producer, omar abdulkader, had to run for cover. >> keep going, keep going! >> well done. >> that was close. >> reporter: as american's syrian allies close in from the north, they're already planning for a future without the extremists. appointing local councils to govern towns retaken from isis just north of raqqa we watched them releasing 81 men and boys accused of being isis fighters. they've been rehabilitated they told us after detecting or being captured and this was a public show of forgiveness in full view of television cameras. with a handshake, and a free cookie, the prisoners were reunited with their families. siham al dandan told us her 15- year

armed by the pentagon l a times reported that in february last year the deal would be backed syrian democratic forces were kicked out from one of the towns near aleppo by cia armed. militia but when has this kind of mishap stop the funding off regime change now that trump has seemingly decided to put an end to this one of the commanders admitted to the financial times that not only his forces the syrian rebel forces surely received arms from the cia but were also on their regular payroll yeah the salaries to syrian rebels which were essentially floated by the u.s. taxpayers which may explain the real reason why the program was curbed and that statement by top u.s. army general raymond dahmus head of special operations command has said affirmatively that it was absolutely not a sop to the russians but in the world of today never let facts and called blood of decisions get in the way of the russia russia russia narrative alexi russia reporting from washington d.c. . iranian new iraq signed an agreement yesterday to step of military cooperation in the fight against quote terrorism that's according to th

together, these men and women make up the syrian democratic forces.alliance that includes arabs, but is led by the kurds. their success against islamic state has come thanks, in no small part, to battle from the united states. americans have quietly pilled up a presence on the ground, providing weapons, training and firepower. this command and the units are on the western front. it isa units are on the western front. it is a tight squeeze inside a home—made truck with a couple of her fighters driving towards the centre of raqqa —— built. it's a posted be surrounded inside the city. —— islamic state are supposed to be surrounded. but islamic state have dug tunnels and they frequently pep-up dug tunnels and they frequently pop—up when you don't expect them. " p0p pop—up when you don't expect them. “ p0p up- pop—up when you don't expect them. —— pop up. these fighters are coming up —— pop up. these fighters are coming up against islamic state snipers in all of the streets around here. other than that, they've got drones, suicide car bombs. this is going

been confirmed but it's believed that eight children could be among the dead this comes as syrian democratic forces backed by u.s. strikes are waging an offensive against the terrorists there and have already managed to retake about half of the city tens of thousands of people who have fled the violence there in recent months and according to unicef about half of them are children we can talk about that now with brad so who's a representative for unicef in syria welcome very welcome to the program thanks for joining us by the numbers but the u.n. report states that over one hundred thousand people have been displaced from rocka since april that was number half of them children that how many more could be displaced to free the city. yet the fighting has resulted in massive displacement from broke out in front of number more than two hundred thousand people including half of them. displaced some of them has further been displaced i've done a very nice neighborhood in a very government needs and some living in camps and informal settlements with. the harsh conditions in the scorching heat. i myself ha

backed syrian democratic forces were kicked out from one of the towns near aleppo by cia armed. militia but when has this kind of mishap stop the funding off regime change now that trump has seemingly decided to put an end to this one of the commanders admitted to the financial times that not only his forces the syrian rebel forces shortie received arms from the cia but were also on their regular payroll yeah the salaries to syrian rebels which were essentially footed by the u.s. taxpayers which may explain the real reason why the program was curbed and that statement by top u.s. army general raymond thomas head of special operations command has said affirmatively that it was absolutely not a sop to the russians but in the world of today never let facts and called blood of decisions get in the way of their russia russia russia narrative alexi russia reporting from washington d.c. . for more on this let's go to former u.s. diplomat jim jeffords jim always a pleasure is this a win for russia so to speak and how does this benefit russia as it stands well i think it benefits russia

these are troops of the syrian democratic forces or stf, who are backed by the united states. —— sdf.weeks they have advanced rapidly toward the outskirts and the city centre. this kurdish commander said the islamic state militants are only firing mortar shells and rockets and claims their spirits are low. and now, after the arrival of reinforcement last weekend, sdf troops are reported to have taken another major step forward breaking through the walls guarding the old city. the us military said its warplanes based in the region fired missiles to punch two holes in the medieval walls surrounding the old city. sdf trips we re surrounding the old city. sdf trips were then able to take the fight inside the heavily fortified area where it is estimated at least 2000 islamic state fighters are now holding out. amongst those involved in this key battle is a british man who calls himself mercer gifford. they are making excellent inroads into the city which means that the confidence amongst the sdf fighters on the ground is infinitely high and we are looking forward to seeing raqqa completely

armed by the pentagon l a times reported that in february last year the deal would be backed syrian democratic forces were kicked out from one of the towns near aleppo by cia armed. militia but when has this kind of mishap stop the funding off regime change now that trump has seemingly decided to put an end to this one of the commanders admitted to the financial times that not only his forces the syrian rebel forces surely received arms. on the cia but were also on their regular payroll yeah the salaries to syrian rebels which were essentially footed by the u.s. taxpayers which may explain the real reason why the program was curbed and that statement by top u.s. army general raymond thomas head of special operations command has said affirmatively that it was absolutely not a sop to the russians but in the world of today never let facts and called blood of decisions get in the way of their russia russia russia narrative alexi russia reporting from washington d.c. . who's. happy i'm seeing this come to an what you know what i really want to see come to an end is when we going to get out of the fairy ta

ground zero for the fight against jihadists and they are fighting with kurds and some of the syrian democratic forcesse village land tees to go overseas -- some of these vigilantes to go overseas for the fight. >> it's not uncommon. it's a strange mix of bag of personalities, motivations and ideals. i guess that's the best way to characterize it. when saw this before. in early 2003 when we got engaged in iraq we had a lot of people out there. you would see people start to drift in to what at the time was a relatively serene environment compared to what happened in 2003. but people showed up for a variety of reasons. some are legitimately vets craving more action or legitimately believe it's an important fight. you have people who are idealistic who have an idea of saving the world. you have drifters who are just look for something to latch on to. it's an unusual combination of people who end up in environments like this. kennedy: they feel like they want to do something. it's almost like war correspondents. but instead of documenting, they want to pick up arms against the enemy and maybe they don't w

where american backed fighters, known as the syrian democratic forces, are clawing background from isis one block at a time. isis is now surrounded in raqqa. and estimated 2,500 fighters are being pummelled by u.s. air strikes. but as they did in mosul they're choosing to wreak more deaths rather than surrendering. when part of our team went forward, they were spotted by in a isis sniper. our producer, omar abdul kara had to run for cover. >> well done. >> that was close. >> as america's syrian allies close in on isis from the north, they're already planning for a future without the extremists. appointing local councils to govern towns retaken from isis. them releasing 81 men and boys accused of being isis fighters. they had been rehabilitated they told us after defecting or being captured. this was a public show of forgiveness in full view of the television cameras. with a handshake and a free cookie, the prisoners were reunited with their families. she told us her 15-year-old son, hamri ran off to join isis four months ago. i advise every mother to stop their kids from joining isis. s

. >> leland: in addition to major progress against isis and iraq, the syrian democratic forces reportade inroads in raqqa, isis self-proclaimed capital inside of syria. joining us now, nice to see you. forgive me if this feels like a bad case of deja vu all over again, we have been talking about the liberation of mosul for longer than it took the allies to invade on d-day and for berlin to fall. why? >> a few things, one is the quality of the forces we are working with on the ground. to run with your analogy, we had the greatest army in the world with the greatest generation then in the american army, british army, now the united states is acting as advisors to an iraqi army and then kind of a compilation of other forces. it's going to take longer, it is brutal house to house fighting, you saw how the soviet army just literally leveled entire towns and villages, which we are not going to do in this modern age. but i'm worried about is the day after, what next after the isis state falls? who is going to deal with reconstruction, with governance, with safe zones for refugee return and h

together, these men and women make up the syrian democratic force is, stf.s have quietly built a presence on the ground, providing weapons, presence on the ground, providing weapons, training and firepower. the commander and her unit on the western front. it is a tight squeeze inside a home—made armoured truck with a couple of firefighters driving towards the centre of raqqa. islamic state are supposed to be surrounded inside the old city. but is have dug tunnels. and they frequently pop up you don't expect them. these fighters are coming up against is fighters in all of these streets. they have got drones, they —— this is going to be a hard fight into the centre of raqqa. inching their way into the city, house by house, the fighters are so close they can hear is in the building across the street. this is of course across the street. this is of course a battle for territory. they are fighting to retake the capital of the caliphate. has something happened? the caliphate. has something happened ? everybody the caliphate. has something happened? everybody is sp

the syrian democratic forces, the kurds, the arabs, that the u.s. been trying to train to fought and have been making progress against isis. how long before those forces are pushed to the background or even worse? >> we're watching mosul even closer, given that it is believe that a retake in mosul is imminent. you reported a lot bout, barbara, is what happens then? what fills the hole left in mosul? what is a post-isis mosul look for all of the people that call it home. barbara star, thank you for reporting from the pentagon. >>> a lot of news. president trump about to speak in poland. "new day" continues right now. >> barack obama found out about this in terms of if i were russia. he did nothing about it. >> trump will come face-to-face for the first time with vladimir putin. >> the president should be trying to prepare for this trip. we also know the president keeps stepping on his own message. >> we want to see fair press. we don't want fake news. >> every eyeball in the world will be watching him. >> they are behaving in a very, very dangerous m

has been backing for months, so-called sdf syrian democratic forces, are making progress towards gettingng to get isis out of raqqa. its self-declared capital in syria. that will by any measure be an extremely important victory in the war against isis, but if they get it back, now the problem for president trump is it opens up a whole host of new problems, and mainly, russian backing of bashar al assad. you know, this is still assad's country. the fighters might get raqqa back, but what is president trump going to do for them to be able to hold on to raqqa? the billions of dollars in reconstruction, the civilian government that would have to be installed there and what happens if assad backed by russia also backed by iran begins to move his forces towards raqqa again? that could happen in the coming months, and will the fighters that the u.s. backs be able to hold them off? will this about separate enclave? because right now u.s. policy doesn't really address the issue of the trump administration trying to get assad out of power. it's something that the two men may well talk about and no

in the spring of this year, kurdish commanders in syria who are leading the so-called syrian democratic forceslieved that they could surprise isis from the south in a city to the west of raqqa. they have a huge hydroelectric dam, a strategic gateway to raqqa. they needed to get across a large expanse of water. they had 500 fighters who had probably never seen an aircraft, let alone flown in one. within three days of the proposal of the syrian kurdish commander, let's do this, to the actual commencement of the operation, it took place. i am told there was not a single white house meeting to discuss it. it was relegated to general townsend, the commander in baghdad who organized this. he got the zodiac boats to take heavy equipment across the lake. then they ended up on the ground. it was a bloody battle. they had over 100 killed, 300 wounded. that's a lot of people to get killed. they took out the isis force that had been entrenched there for almost three years. the obama administration, i can't imagine they're not being an extensive interagency process, white house meetings, back-and-forth. th

these are troops of the syrian democratic forces, or sdf, who are backed by the united states.owards the city centre. this kurdish commander said the islamic state militants are only firing mortar shells and rockets, and claims their spirits are low. and now, after the arrival of reinforcement last weekend, sdf troops are reported to have taken another major step forward, breaking through the walls guarding the old city. the us military says its warplanes based in the region fired missiles to punch two holes in these medieval walls surrounding the old city. sdf troops were then able to take the fight inside the heavily fortified area, where its estimated at least 2000 islamic state fighters are now holding out. amongst those involved in this key battle is a british man who calls himself mercer gifford. they are making excellent inroads into the city, which means that the confidence amongst the sdf fighters on the ground is incredibly high, and we're looking forward to seeing raqqa completely done, finished, which is the heartland of the so—called islamic state. and, meanwhile,

where american known as the syrian democratic forces are consuling back ground one block at a time.nded in raqqa. estimated 2500 fighters are being pummeled by u.s. air strikes, as they did in mosul, choosing to wage more deaths rather than surrendering. there were stunted by an isis sniper. our producer had to run for cover. as america's syrian allies close in from the north, they're already planning for a future without the extremist appointing local counsel. north of raqqa we watched them releasing 81 men and boys accused of being isis fighters. they had been rehabilitated they told us after defecting or being captured and this was a public show of forgive ness in full view of television cameras. with a handshake and free cookie they were reunited with families. he told us her 15-year-old son hamry ran off to join isis four months ago. i advise every mother to stop their kids from joining isis. i wasn't sure i'd ever see him again. but even now the islamic state is rapidly losing territory nobody here thinks that retaking raqqa will spell the end of isis. at the u.s. there are of

a tweet that syrian democratic forces late tonight entered the old city in central raqqa. milestone in campaign to leberate the city. how significant is this? >> reporter: we don't know the scope of the progress elsewhere around the city, but the fact, according to this coalition statement, they seemed to manage to get past the fences of the city easily. according to the coalition. blowing through substantial holes in the about six-mile perimeter wall around the old city, therefore enabling them to bypass the boobytraps isis put in place that could save them a lot of time and potentially marks a significant moment of progress. they seem to be moving quickly around raqqa. a lot of coalition ground and air support speeding them on and face potentially a lesser challenge. certainly mosul referred to earlier, the largest ever held in iraq. raqqa a de facto capital declared in syria. raqqa potentially at this point only 50,000 civilians in it. some suggest more. 150,000, but nothing compared to the problem iraqi special forces face when they moved into the populated areas of mo