US-backed fighters battled the ISIS group on Thursday as they tried to push further into the jehadis’ Syrian bastion Raqa, two days after finally entering the northern city. The Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters began the battle for the city earlier this week after seven months of fighting to surround the jehadi stronghold. On Wednesday the city had witnessed heavy clashes in the Al-Meshleb neighbourhood, with ISIS firing multiple mortar rounds towards the advancing forces.