Smoke rises from a coalition airstrike which attacked an Islamic State position, on the front line on the western side of Raqqa, northeast Syria on July 17, 2017. It was a rare advance for Damascus's forces in that area, which is close to territory controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated alliance separately fighting Islamic State. It also brings government forces closer to Deir al-Zor province, another Islamic State stronghold. The Syrian army has active front lines with Islamic State in western Raqqa province and has made recent gains there. Incidents between the Syrian military and SDF last month raised tension between Washington and Damascus and its ally Moscow.

Source: Bangkok Post July 23, 2017 10:18 UTC