Raqqa residents trapped by ISIL militants
Many vulnerable to fighting, living in tents
THEY TELL PEOPLE ... IT IS A BATTLE AGAINST ISLAM.
BEIRUT • Residents of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa live in terror, trapped as a massive human shield in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s de facto capital ahead of the final battle with U.S.-backed opposition forces for its last major urban stronghold.
A belt of landmines and militant checkpoints circle the city. Inside, all the men have been ordered to wear the jihadis’ garb of baggy pants and long shirts — making it difficult to distinguish ISIL militants from civilians.
Hundreds if not thousands of Syrians who fled from other parts of the country now live in tents in Raqqa’s streets, vulnerable to both warplanes and ground fighting. Enormous tarps have been stretched for blocks in the city centre to hide the militants’ movements from spy planes.
The estimated 300,000 people trapped inside live in terrifying uncertainty over how to find safety. Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition shake the city almost daily, amid reports of civilians killed by strikes in the nearby countryside.
To get a picture of Raqqa, The Associated Press talked to more than a dozen people, including residents who were still there or had recently escaped, and activists with organizations that track events through contacts inside, as well as diplomats, U.S. military and aid groups. Almost all spoke on condition they not be identified, fearing for their own lives or the lives of their contacts.
Getting information is difficult. Militants constantly look for “spies.” The only Internet access is in a few approved cafés where patrons must give their names and addresses and endure spot checks by ISIL fighters.
ISIL has sent most of its European fighters out of Raqqa farther east to the region of Deir el-Zour, deeper into its shrinking territory, according to “Tim Ramadan”, an activist with the group Sound and Picture, who remains in Raqqa, and “Eyas Dass”, editor of Al Raqqa Post, an opposition website that documents atrocities by ISIL and the Syrian government.
That is probably a sign it wants to protect the foreigners, either for a propaganda campaign or to send them to carry out attacks in their home countries, they said.
Battle-hardened Syrians and Iraqis are left in Raqqa, bolstered by reinforcements from those who withdrew from Mosul and other parts of Iraq. Dass said about 2,000 fighters and their families are en route from Iraq, and Ramadan said many are already in Raqqa. Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, estimated over 4,000 fighters in the city.
For days, leaflets have fluttered from coalition planes to warn of impending strikes. More than 2 million have been dropped in two weeks, the coalition said.
One urged those living in tents to move closer to the Euphrates, according to a resident and the U.S. military in Baghdad. Another warned residents not to board the small boats that are the only way to cross.
“Daesh is using boats and ferries to transport weapons and fighters. Do not use ferries or boats, airstrikes are coming,” the flyer said.
Fighters in Raqqa have started to move in with families to hide among civilians. Residents must dig trenches, stack sandbags and build earthen berms for the city’s defences. Children have stopped going to school.
“If you want ‘lessons,’ you go to the mosques,” said Hamad, a former resident of Raqqa who keeps in contact with people in the city.
Food is still in adequate supply, though prices rose after the destruction of the bridges. Medical care is almost nonexistent since most doctors fled long ago, according to Hamad and others. Hospitals are short on equipment.
But underground clinics run by the ISIL group for its fighters are well-stocked, said Hussam Eesa, one of the founders of the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.
Loudspeakers on mosques or on vehicles used by the religious police warn the populace that the battle is coming.
“They tell people ... it is a battle against Islam, all nations are attacking us and the Prophet says we should be united,” Eesa said.
“They are putting psychological pressure on residents.”