A campaign to retake ISIS' de facto capital will begin within hours, according to a US-backed military group.
The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Sunday they would head the campaign with US forces providing air support.
In a press conference in the Syrian town of Ain Issa, commanders of SDF, said the goal of the operation, called Angry Euphrates, would be liberating Raqqa from the militants.
The Syrian YPG Kurdish force is one of the most powerful militias in Syria and regarded as the backbone of SDF, a US-backed alliance formed last year to fight Islamic State.
The coalition of Kurdish and Arab forces has been gaining momentum to the north of the city. But Turkey, Syria's closest neighbour to the north, is unlikely to support the YPG as they consider it a terrorist outfit.
ISIS proclaimed Raqqa the capital of its "caliphate" in 2014.
