Isis’ Western fighters flee before big battle

SYRIA: Isis’ Western fighters have fled Raqqa ahead of an impending battle for the group’s self-declared capital, according to local activists and United Statesbacked forces.

The last of the European jihadists are said to have left in a convoy heading for Deir Ezzor province, in eastern Syria, late last month.

‘‘The city is now completely under the control of Arab fighters for the first time since 2013,’’ said Tim Ramadan, an activist with the anti-Isis group Sound and Picture.

‘‘There are no Westerners left,’’ added Ramadan, who lives in Raqqa and uses a pseudonym for his safety.

News of the flight emerged as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, drove Isis from Tabqa and its nearby dam, the largest in Syria – opening up Raqqa to attack from the west.

Several thousand British, French, Belgian and other Europeans had travelled to Raqqa, the centre of Isis’ self-proclaimed caliphate and a hub for planning attacks against the West.

‘‘Daesh [an Arabic acronym for Isis] needs to keep the foreigners safe," Aghiad al-Kheder, another member of the group, said from Germany. ‘‘They are more important to them for propaganda reasons, for sending messages to the US and Europe to recruit more support.’’

He said Isis, ahead of an assault on Raqqa, has effectively moved its capital to Deir Ezzor, which lies 140km to the south and connects its territory in Syria and Iraq. The province is largely flat desert land and easier to defend. It also has Syria’s largest oil deposit, the alOmar, which has proved very lucrative.

Asaad Almohammad, of the International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism, said Isis has already moved vast sums of money, as well as its senior foreign leaders, to the city of Mayadin in Deir Ezzor. ‘‘It is clearly viewed by Isis as a safe haven,’’ he said.

Shervan Derwish, an SDF spokesman, said the force had tracked dozens of Western Isis fighters and their families moving from Raqqa to Deir Ezzor.

‘‘We know that many Daesh, mostly foreigners, headed south to Deir Ezzor on April 26,’’ he said. ‘‘The city is much better protected and much safer as Raqqa comes under attack.’’

The flight will be a concern for British security services. Britons in Syria are thought to be in contact with sympathisers back home and the move from Raqqa could see them even more deeply embedded. There are estimated to be between 250 and 300 British jihadists still fighting with Isis in Syria and Iraq.

One of them, Stefan Aristidou, defected last month, crossing into Turkey and surrendering to border authorities.

Several dozen other Westerners are understood to have contacted their embassies in Turkey looking to return from Isis-held Syria. About 3000 Isis fighters are believed to be left in Raqqa, where an estimated 300,000 people live under jihadist rule.

SDF troops have surrounded the city from three sides.

The US announced this week that it will arm the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which make up the bulk of the SDF. The YPG welcomed the decision, saying it would hasten Isis’ defeat. However, Washington’s move angered Turkey, which accused its Nato ally of siding with ‘‘terrorists’’. – Telegraph Group