The Kurdish-Arab alliance attacked the Islamic State near Raqqa

The Kurdish-Arab alliance announced today that it has launched a major offensive against the Islamic State north of its Syrian stronghold in the city of Raqqa.

"With the participation of all units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), we are starting this operation to liberate the northern part of Raqqa," Kurdish commander Rojda Felat was quoted as saying on the SDF's Twitter account, as reported by AFP.

The SDF also announced that this offensive will be supported by airstrikes from the US-led coalition that is bombing the positions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

TASS reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today at a summit in Uzbekistan that Moscow is ready to coordinate attacks on the Islamic State bastion in Raqqa together with the Kurdish-Arab alliance and the US-led coalition.

"I say with full responsibility that we are ready for such coordination," Lavrov said.

"I can say with certainty that Russia is ready to participate in operations in Raqqa together with the Syrian Democratic Forces and the US-led coalition," Lavrov told reporters in Tashkent, reacting to the announcement by the Syrian Democratic Forces about starting an offensive in Raqqa.

He added that the capture of Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul are the most important goals of the anti-Islamist coalition and expressed his belief that the liberation of those cities will be possible with the participation of Russian forces.

The Democratic Forces of Syria, composed of the "Kurdish Self-Defense Forces" and Arab rebel groups, announced today that with the support of the US-led coalition, they have begun an operation to expel the Islamic State jihadists from their stronghold in Raqqa.

Lavrov confirmed that Moscow and Washington agreed that they should do much more than simply exchange information and coordinate actions in the fight against terrorism.

On Friday, the Pentagon dismissed the possibility of conducting joint operations with Russia in Syria and announced that only respect for the ceasefire agreement was discussed with Moscow.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said recently that Russia proposed to the US and the international military coalition led by Washington to carry out joint attacks against jihadists in Syria, starting on May 25.