Islamic State counter attack causes fierce clashes in Syria's Raqqa

A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter stand in a balcony in Raqqa, Syria June 27, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State mounted a fierce counter-attack against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of militias in the city of Raqqa on Friday, but there were divergent accounts of its success in regaining ground.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said the group had managed to regain control over most of Raqqa's industrial district, but the SDF said fighting was limited to the edges of that area and the attack was repelled.