Raqqa Liberation Op Doomed Without Kurds - Iraqi Kurdistan Government

The operation to recapture the Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State terror group will be doomed if the Kurdish forces lose the possibility to take part in it, the representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government in Russia told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, The Washington Post reported, citing sources, that the Trump administration dropped plans by former President Barack Obama to arm Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in a push to recapture the city of Raqqa from Daesh.

"I have not been informed yet on this decision, if it really was taken. These could be just statements from some individuals, not an official decision. But if this is true, if the Kurds do not take part in Raqqa liberation any longer, it will be much harder to complete the liberation operation. The Kurds are now the main force," Aso Jangi Talabani said.

He added that a few days ago the Kurdish fighters helped to liberate several villages in the direction of Raqqa.

According to the US media publication, three days before Trump’s inauguration, Barack Obama directed his national security adviser to hand over to the Trump team a paper detailing the plan to arm the Kurds. Officials from the Trump’s team reportedly reviewed the plan and tossed it, deeming insufficient.

Kurdish fighters dominate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a collective that also includes the Syrian Arab Coalition, which is made up of fighters predominantly from local Arab areas.

US-supplied armored vehicles were delivered to Syrian fighters on Tuesday, but Col. John Dorrian said they were transferred to the Syrian Arab Coalition, not the SDF. Another of the SDF's Kurdish components, the Popular Defense Units (YPG) also denied receiving arms from the US-led coalition.