Adam Rawnsley is a Philadelphia-based reporter covering technology and national security. He co-authors FP’s Situation Report newsletter and has written for The Daily Beast, Wired, and War Is Boring.
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Adam Rawnsley
Western special forces, supporting the US-backed Kurdish-Arab forces, deploy on the frontline, one kilometre from the Syrian town of Ain Issa, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Raqa, on November 6, 2016 as they launched an offensive on the Islamic State group's de facto Syrian capital.
The start of the assault by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came as Iraqi forces fought inside Mosul for the third day running, with the jihadists putting up fierce resistance.
/ AFP / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
ERBIL, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 04: Iraqis living in villages of Mosul, fled from Daesh terrorists arrive to Erbil in Iraq on November 4, 2016. A much anticipated Mosul offensive to liberate the city from Daesh began midnight of 16th of October.
(Photo by Ahmet Izgi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Afghan National Army commandos take rest amid ongoing fighting between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces in Kunduz on October 4, 2016.
Afghan forces were conducting clearing operations in Kunduz early on October 4, warning that Taliban militants were hiding in civilian homes after an hours-long assault on the city repelled with the help of NATO air support. / AFP / BASHIR KHAN SAFI (Photo credit should read BASHIR KHAN SAFI/AFP/Getty Images)
Russian military pilots stand at attention during celebrations for Russian Air Force Day in Pushkin, outside of Saint Petersburg, on August 12, 2016.
/ AFP / OLGA MALTSEVA (Photo credit should read OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty Images)
Shiite fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) advance towards the village of Salmani, south of Mosul, on October 30, 2016 during the ongoing battle against Islamic State group jihadists to liberate the city of Mosul.
Iraqi paramilitary forces said they had captured several villages southwest of Mosul from the Islamic State group on Sunday, the second day of an operation to cut the jihadists' supply lines. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
Syrian government forces walk in the strategic area of the Bazo hilltop, north of Khan Tuman on the southern outskirts of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo as they advance in the ongoing offensive to seize the rebel-held eastern part of the city on October 25, 2016.
Government forces and allied fighters are advancing on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Humman Rights reported, seizing territory overlooking rebel-held areas.
/ AFP / GEORGE OURFALIAN (Photo credit should read GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images)
DOVER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov passes through the English channel on October 21, 2016 near Dover, England. The Russian Navy's flotilla of warships is presumed to be heading to the eastern Mediterranean to support the Russian military's current deployment in Syria. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Syrian civil defence volunteers (C) search for victims amid the rubble of destroyed buildings on October 24, 2016, following overnight air strikes in the rebel-held town of Kafar Takharim, in Idlib province of northwest Syria. / AFP / Omar haj kadour (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - Iraqi soldiers look on as smoke rises from the Qayyarah area, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul, on October 19, 2016, as Iraqi forces take part in an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to retake the main hub city.
In the biggest Iraqi military operation in years, forces have retaken dozens of villages, mostly south and east of Mosul, and are planning multiple assaults for October 20. / AFP / YASIN AKGUL (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)
MOSUL, IRAQ - OCTOBER 20: Smoke rises after Daesh terrorists' attacks with howitzers from Naveran village as Peshmerga forces attack Daesh targets to retake the village and surroundings during the operation to retake Iraq's Mosul from Daesh, in Mosul, Iraq on October 20, 2016. A much anticipated Mosul offensive to liberate the city from Daesh began midnight of 16th of October. (Photo by Hamit Huseyin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Iraqi forces advance through the desert on the banks of the Tigris river, northeast of the main staging base of Qayyarah, on October 20, 2016, during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to retake the main hub city of Mosul.
A wide array of Iraqi and international forces are involved in the fight to retake Mosul from the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran the country's second city in 2014. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
MOSUL, IRAQ - OCTOBER 18: Iraqi army forces arrive in Hut village as smoke rises from oil wells, were set on fire by Daesh terrorists to limit coalition forces pilots' eyesight following Iraqi army's retaking of Al Qayyarah town during the operation to retake Iraq's Mosul from Daesh, in Mosul, Iraq on October 18, 2016. A much anticipated Mosul offensive to liberate the city from Daesh began midnight Sunday. (Photo by Feriq Ferec/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
NINEVEH, IRAQ - OCTOBER 18: Peshmerga forces are seen at Naveran front during an operation liberate Iraqs Mosul from Deash in Nineveh, Iraq on October 18, 2016. Peshmergas, who are deployed to Zerdek Mountain as part of an operation liberate Iraqs Mosul from Deash, carried out airstrikes in the Bartella town in Nineveh. (Photo by Yunus Keles/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Iraqi forces deploy in the area of al-Shourah, some 45 kms south of Mosul, as they advance towards the city to retake it from the Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, on October 17, 2016.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced earlier in the day that the long-awaited operation to recapture Mosul was under way.
/ AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
