US Building Force to Retake Syria's Raqqa From Daesh - Reports

The United States is working with its coalition partners to prepare an offensive on de-facto Daesh's capital Raqqa in Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Top US officials have recently held a meeting with their partners to work out an agreement for the operation, the media reported.

Due to the limited role of the US ground forces in Syria, Washington has to rely on cooperation between Turkey, the Kurdish fighters and Arab Sunni forces to retake Raqqa, according to media reports.

The reports of the prepared offensive on Raqqa have surfaced after the beginning of an operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh. Mosul is the last large Daesh's stronghold in Iraq.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will visit Turkey on Friday to discuss operations against Daesh terror group with local officials.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said Monday the Pentagon expects to see success in Mosul and Raqqa "in the coming months."

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists. The US-led coalition is supporting the Iraqi Security Forces with air support, artillery, intelligence, advisers and forward air controllers, according to the Central Command.

Daesh seized Mosul in 2014 and Raqqa in 2013 along with a number of other cities and towns in the two countries.