Battle for IS Syria bastion Raqa to begin 'in days': militia The battle to capture the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqa will begin "in days", a militia spokeswoman said Saturday after fresh advances by a Kurdish-Arab alliance battling the jihadists. An AFP correspondent in Ain Issa, a key staging ground for SDF operations, on Saturday saw a convoy of armoured vehicles driven by foreign advisers from the US-led coalition against the jihadist group. IMAGES of the convoy