U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have captured almost half of the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa, but the push into the city in northern Syria has slowed due to stiff resistance and large amounts of explosives planted by the extremists, a spokeswoman for the fighters and monitors said Thursday, Stars and Stripes reported.
Army Col. Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, said 45 percent of Raqqa is now under the control of the SDF.
In a series of tweets, he said the SDF cleared about 9 square miles of terrain this past week fighting against "stiff, sporadic resistance" from ISIS militants entrenched in Raqqa.
