Battle of Raqqa (2017)

Battle of Raqqa (2017)
	Part of the American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war, the International military intervention against the Islamic State, the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017), the Rojava–Islamist conflict, and the Syrian civil war
	; Map of the SDF advances and control situations in Raqqa city, during the battle Islamic State control Syrian Democratic Forces control
Date	6 June – 17 October 2017; (4 months, 1 week and 4 days)
Location	Raqqa, Raqqa Governorate, Syria35°57′00″N 39°01′00″E / 35.9500°N 39.0167°E
Result	Decisive SDF and allies victory 80% of the city is destroyed;
Territorial; changes	The SDF captured 17th Division HQ on 8 June and completely encircled Raqqa on 24 June; The SDF captured the city on 17 October;
Belligerents
AANES Syrian Democratic Forces People's Defense Units Antifascist International Tabur; ; ; Self Defence Forces (HXP); International Freedom Battalion; Sinjar Resistance Units; Êzîdxan Women's Units; ; ; CJTF–OIR United States; France; United Kingdom; Germany;	Islamic State
Commanders and leaders
Rojda Felat; (SDF general command member and YPJ commander); Clara Raqqa; (high-ranking YPJ commander); Adnan Abu Amjad †; (Manbij Military Council general commander); Muhammad Mustafa Ali "Abu Adel"; (Manbij Military Council and Northern Sun Battalion commander); Dilsuz Hashme; (Manbij Military Council senior commander); Ibrahim Semho; (Euphrates Liberation Brigade commander); Abu Imad; (Elite Forces commander); Ahmad Sultan; (Army of Revolutionaries commander-in-chief); Ali Çiçek; (Kurdish Front commander); Abu Raad Bakary; (Tribal Forces commander); Nubar Ozanyan †; (IFB and TKP/ML commander)	Abu Khattab al-Tunisi †; (ISIL high command member and commander of eastern Raqqa); Abu Osama al-Tunisi †; (ISIL commander); Abu Ubada al-Shami ; (Caliphate Cubs commander and chief recruiter); Abu Osama; (Commander of ISIL holdouts by Oct. 2017)
Units involved
See anti-ISIL forces order of battle	See ISIL order of battle
Strength
30,000–40,000 total 10,000–15,000 in the city (SOHR estimate);	3,000–5,000
Casualties and losses
690 killed (per SOHR); 655 killed (per SDF); 1,000 killed (per ISIL)	1,400 killed (per SOHR); 1,246+ killed,; 715 captured (per SDF)
	1,540 civilians killed (per SOHR); 1,600 civilians killed by Coalition airstrikes (per Airwars and Amnesty International); 1,854–1,873 civilians killed (per local monitors); Tens of thousands of civilians displaced

The battle of Raqqa (2017), also known as the second battle of Raqqa, was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (IS) with an aim to seize the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL since 2014. The battle began on 6 June 2017, and was supported by airstrikes and ground troops from the US-led coalition. The operation was named the "Great Battle" by the SDF. It concluded on 17 October 2017, with the SDF fully capturing the city of Raqqa.

The battle ran concurrently with the conclusion of the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017), which had started seven months earlier, as part of an effort by the CJTF–OIR and its allies to strip ISIL of its regional centers of power and to dismantle it as a state. It continued while Syrian Arab Army and allies began clearing ISIL across the Euphrates, reaching the point of the lifting of the Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017).

Like other battles fought against ISIL, the battle for Raqqa was marked by intense urban combat, with fighting both on the surface level, and in tunnels below that ISIL militants moved through. One U.S. commander described it as some of the most intense urban fighting since the Second World War. Out of a pre-war population of 300,000 some 270,000 people were said to have fled Raqqa. Around 80% of the city was destroyed by the battle.