<p>US-backed Kurdish forces advanced further into Raqqa’s Old City on July 4</a> after several hours of clashes with Islamic State fighters. Several dozen residents of the area, which has remained under IS control since 2013, were rescued by Kurdish forces.</p><p>A number of IS fighters and Kurdish soldiers were reportedly killed during the July 4 fighting along the outskirts of the Old City, while intense artillery shelling and aerial bombardments from both sides led to a number of civilian deaths there, as well as in the nearby al-Diriya and al-Tusia’ya neighborhoods</a>. Credit: Raqqa Campaign via Storyful</p><br />
