US-backed forces ‘liberate’ Raqqa
US-backed forces take over Raqqa; victory caps a battle of over four months
Raqa (Syria), Oct. 17: USbacked forces took full control of Raqqa from the Islamic State on Tuesday, defeating the last jihadist holdouts in the de facto Syrian capital of their now-shattered “caliphate”.
The victory caps a battle of more than four months for Raqqa, and hammers another nail in the coffin of the jihadist group’s experiment in statehood, which has collapsed in the face of offensives in Syria and Iraq.
Inside Raqqa, joyous fighters from the KurdishArab Syrian Democratic Forces celebrated and raised their yellow flag in the city’s Al-Naim traffic circle, which became known as “Hell Roundabout” after it was used for gruesome public executions.
“Hell Roundabout is now Al-Naim Roundabout again,” the fighters cheered, surrounded by crushed buildings and charred cars damaged in the ferocious battle for the city. The SDF broke into Raqqa in June, after months of fighting to surround the city, and on Tuesday flushed the last few hundred ISIS fighters from their remaining positions in the main hospital and the municipal stadium. “Everything is finished in Raqqa, our forces have taken full control of Raqqa,” the alliance’s spokesman Talal Sello said.
Raqa, Syria, Oct. 17: USbacked forces took full control of Raqa from the Islamic State group on Tuesday, defeating the last jihadist holdouts in the de facto Syrian capital of their now-shattered “caliphate”.
The victory caps a battle of more than four months for Raqqa, and hammers another nail in the coffin of the jihadist group’s experiment in statehood, which has collapsed in the face of offensives in Syria and Iraq.
Inside Raqa, joyous fighters from the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces celebrated and raised their yellow flag in the city’s AlNaim traffic circle, which became known as “Hell Roundabout” after it was used for gruesome public executions.
“Hell Roundabout is now Al-Naim Roundabout again,” the fighters cheered, surrounded by crushed buildings and charred cars damaged in the ferocious battle for the city.
The SDF broke into Raqqa in June, after months of fighting to surround the city, and on Tuesday flushed the last few hundred ISIS fighters from their remaining positions in the main hospital and the municipal stadium.
“Everything is finished in Raqqa, our forces have taken full control of Raqa,” the alliance’s spokesman Talal Sello said. He said the SDF was combing the city for any remaining jihadists who had not surrendered or been killed. “The military operations in Raqqa have finished, but there are clearing operations now under way to uncover any sleeper cells there might be and remove mines,” he said. The announcement came just days after SDF said it was launching the final phase of its operation to retake the city. There had been fears that the force, backed by the US-led coalition battling ISIS in Syria and Iraq, could get bogged down in a protracted battle for the last 10 percent of the city where the jihadists had prepared for a final stand.
But on Tuesday they captured the hospital and stadium in quick succession, effectively ending ISIS’s more than three-year presence in the city. Sello said an official statement announcing “the liberation of the city” would be made soon.
The breakthrough in the operation, which was launched on June 6, came after a deal was struck allowing the evacuation in recent days of civilians who had been held as human shields.