Us-backed forces capture Raqqa from Daesh
Us-backed forces said Tuesday they had taken full control of Raqqa from the Daesh group, defeating the last terrorist holdouts in the de facto Syrian capital of their now-shattered “caliphate.”
The Syrian Democratic Forces, who have been fighting inside the northern city since they broke in on June 6, flushed the few hundred Daesh members left in the city from their last positions in the main hospital and the national stadium.
“Everything is finished in Raqqa; our forces have taken full control of Raqqa,” the alliance’s spokesman Talal Sello told AFP.
He said the SDF was combing the city for any remaining terrorists who had not surrendered or been killed, and added that a major mine-clearing operation was already under way.
“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,” Sello added.
The announcement came just days after the SDF said it was launching the final phase of its operation to retake the city.
Raqqa was overrun by Daesh in March 2013 and was declared the terrorist group’s “capital” in 2014.
The SDF, which does not coordinate with the Syrian government and military, announced an operation against the terrorists in the city some four months ago.
The presence of US troops on the ground in Syria lacks any mandate from the Syrian government. Damascus says it is a violation of its sovereignty.
Situation in Deir ez-zor
Separately, Syrian government forces have reportedly liberated more than 80 percent of the eastern city of Deir ez-zor from the control of Daesh terrorists, Press TV reported.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that 81 percent of Deir ez-zor is now under the control of Syrian forces.
Daesh overran large parts of Deir ez-zor Province, including its many oilfields, in mid-2014 as it seized swathes of land in Syria and neighboring Iraq.