Category: War, from Wikidata’s class “battle”
Battle of Raqqa (2017)
Part of: Raqqa Campaign
Wikidata classes on our event-class list: battle (all its classes: Wikidata item)
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.
Text retrieved 2026-09-26 from Wikipedia.
Cite this
The link is the Wikipedia revision of October 24, 2026 (revision 1381721629), whose lead is exactly the text shown here.
APA 7
Battle of Raqqa (2017). (2026, October 24). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Raqqa_(2017)&oldid=1381721629
MLA 9
“Battle of Raqqa (2017).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Raqqa_(2017)&oldid=1381721629.
Chicago (note)
Wikipedia, “Battle of Raqqa (2017),” last modified October 24, 2026, 10:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Raqqa_(2017)&oldid=1381721629.
Chicago (shortened note)
Wikipedia, “Battle of Raqqa (2017).”
Chicago cites well-known reference works such as Wikipedia in notes only, not in the bibliography.
This event on Middle East, 1900–present: https://middleeast.events/event/battle-of-raqqa-2017
If you use the map’s borders: CShapes 2.0 - historical country borders. Schvitz, G., et al. (2022). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. https://icr.ethz.ch/data/cshapes/ (modified by middleeast.events); West Bank Areas A/B/C: UN OCHA / HDX "Oslo Agreement" Areas A/B/C (West Bank). Distributed under the legacy HumanitarianResponse.info terms: non-commercial use with credit to UN OCHA. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/state-of-palestine-other-0-0-0-0-0; some corrected border points: GeoNames - CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://www.geonames.org/
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by Wikipedia contributors, from the article Battle of Raqqa (2017). Classes are Wikidata’s labels (CC0). “Part of” is Wikidata’s statement, in its labels (CC0).