Special to WorldTribune.com
U.S.-led coalition warplanes dropped thousands of leaflets over Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) de facto capital in Syria vowing that ISIL will soon be defeated.
The leaflets were dropped over Raqqa during a break in coalition airstrikes. ISIL opposition group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” (RBSS) said on Twitter that residents of the city were overjoyed to see the leaflets.
The leaflets show ISIL fighters dropping their weapons and flags and fleeing as men, women and children smile and cheer in the background. The leaflets carry a message in Arabic which says “the democratic forces of Syria are advancing to liberate the city of Raqqa from ISIL.”
Meanwhile, Russia said there are increasing signs that Turkey is planning a military incursion into Syria.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Kremlin’s Defense Ministry spokesman, said images of a checkpoint on the Turkish-Syrian border taken in late January show a build-up of vehicles that could be used for moving in troops, ammunition and weapons.
“We have serious grounds to suspect intensive preparations by Turkey for a military invasion on the territory of the sovereign state of Syria,” Konashenkov said. “We are recording more and more signs of concealed preparations by the Turkish military.”