Liberated! IS ‘capital’ falls
US-backed forces declare victory in Raqqa as militants flee city... on a bus
ISLAMIC State’s ‘ capital of terrorism’ has been liberated from fanatics after months of bloody fighting, a local commander said yesterday.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces backed by the US, declared victory in Raqqa.
Brigadier General Talal Sillo said the fighting had stopped, but operations were under way to clear the city of landmines and sleeper cells.
He said a formal declaration would follow, befitting ‘the fall of the capital of terrorism’.
US military officials said about 100 militants were still in the city. The BBC broadcast images of what it said were IS fighters leaving Raqqa by bus.
The move was part of a peace deal in which the fighters were guaranteed safe passage out of the city, it reported. The impending fall of the group’s self- styled capital is a huge win for the US-backed forces, who have been fighting to regain control of the city for four months.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said last night the war was not over, adding: ‘It is clear that the end is near for Daesh (IS) in Raqqa but there is no room for complacency. We will stay the course as part of the Global Coalition battling the evil of our time, ensuring the death cult is flushed entirely out of Syria and Iraq.’ IS made Raqqa the headquarters of its ‘caliphate’ in early 2014. It implemented an extreme interpretation of Islamic law using beheadings, crucifixions and torture to terrorise residents. The city also became home to thousands of jihadis from around the world who heeded a call by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to migrate there.
Fighters have fled in recent months, including a terror unit tasked with orchestrating attacks on the West which moved to the Syria-Iraq border town of Mayadin. Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokes- man booby for trapsthe US-ledin Raqqa coalition,had killed said returning civilians and SDF commanders in recent days. Another challenge was searching tunnels dug by the militants, he said. ‘This will take some time – to say that the city is completely clear. We still suspect there are [IS] fighters within the city.’