US-led warplanes are pummeling the de facto ISIS capital like never beforeThe US-led coalition battling the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) has dramatically intensified its air war against the militant group with strikes pummeling the group's de-facto capital of Raqqa, Syria.
Since Wednesday, the coalition has conducted aerial strikes against more than 70 ISIS targets. One airstrike was responsible for bombing 20 ISIS staging areas around Raqqa, according to Brett McGurk, the US deputy special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS.
In addition to the strikes around Raqqa, the US-led coalition also destroyed ISIS fighting positions and tactical units in Tal Abyad, Kobani, Aleppo, and Al Bukamal in Syria, according to a press release from the coalition.
The latter sites in Syria have been the location of fierce fighting between US-backed Kurdish YPG forces and ISIS. Since the US began providing aerial support to the Kurds, the YPG has steadily eaten away at ISIS territory in northern Syria. At the height of its push, the YPG advanced to within 30 miles of Raqqa.
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-led-airstrikes-isis-raqqa-capital-2015-7
