fighters in syrias raqa prepare for civilian handover
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Fighters in Syria's Raqa prepare for civilian handover

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleFighters in Syria's Raqa prepare for civilian handover

Syria attacks
Raqa - Muslimchronicle

US-backed forces who captured Raqa from the Islamic State group prepared Thursday to hand the Syrian city over to a civilian authority, with some of their fighters already headed to the next battle.

Inside the city, positions that had long been manned by fighters of the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces were abandoned, though some remained in the central Al-Naim square, dancing and ululating as they celebrated their victory.

The SDF battled for more than four months, with US-led coalition support, to capture the city that was once the de facto Syrian capital of IS's self-styled "caliphate".

They announced the end of combat on Tuesday, though operations to clear explosives and seek out sleeper cells were ongoing.

Raqa's capture leaves the jihadists with little remaining territory in Syria, most of it in neighbouring Deir Ezzor province, where some SDF fighters were already headed to continue the campaign.

"Some of the forces withdrew, others will remain in the city until we finish the minor combing operations, then the city will be handed over to the civil council," said SDF commander Rojda Felat.

"After the end of military operations, a large part of the forces have moved out of Raqa to other areas, including Deir Ezzor," added Mustefa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the SDF.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello said two days of mopping-up operations had so far uncovered no additional IS fighters, but that interrogations of those who were captured or surrendered during the battle were ongoing.

"SDF intelligence is investigating them, including a number of foreigners," he told AFP.

Responsibility for the city, which lies in ruins and empty of civilians, will be assumed by the Raqa Civil Council, a body of local officials formed six months ago.

The official handover is expected to come as early as Friday, but the body has already spent months working on reconstruction plans.

They will inherit responsibility for a ghost town that lacks basic services and infrastructure.

On the city's streets on Thursday, blankets that had been hung in front of windows to shield residents from the view of snipers fluttered in the wind, but there was no movement otherwise.

A few scrawny cats and dogs picked their way over the rubble that is strewn across the city, up to 80 percent of which was described as uninhabitable by the UN last month.

- Raqa 'liberated by free women' -

In Al-Naim square, fighters of the Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ), the female branch of the YPG, gathered to hold a press conference celebrating their contribution to the city's capture.

Some of the battle's commanders were female, a point of pride for Kurdish forces, particularly given IS's infamous oppression of women.

Raqa was liberated by the will of free women," the YPJ said in a statement.

SDF flags now cover Al-Naim, where the jihadists once displayed the severed heads of their enemies.

In the centre of the square, a large yellow flag has been raised, featuring a photograph of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan heads the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, where it is considered a "terrorist" group.

He is idolised by many in the YPG, which Ankara says is the Syrian branch of the PKK.

IS captured mostly Sunni Arab Raqa in 2014, and under its rule the city became infamous for gruesome abuses and as a planning centre for attacks abroad.

Its loss deals a major blow to the jihadists' dreams of statehood, and comes after their July defeat in Iraq's second city Mosul, their other major urban stronghold.

In Syria, they are now confined largely to Deir Ezzor province, where they are under attack by both the SDF and Russian-backed government forces.

In neighbouring Iraq, they hold only a small stretch of the Euphrates valley adjoining the Syrian border, a far cry from their peak in 2014, when their "caliphate" was approximately the size of Britain.

 

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

fighters in syrias raqa prepare for civilian handover fighters in syrias raqa prepare for civilian handover

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 06:29 2018 Sunday ,21 January

500 new trainees join US-backed Syria border force

GMT 10:31 2017 Sunday ,20 August

the history of solar eclipses

GMT 16:36 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

Gulf Air launches Bahrain Tourist Visa Service

GMT 03:19 2012 Saturday ,15 September

FREEDOM

GMT 06:56 2014 Friday ,12 September

No winners in Gaza

GMT 22:30 2012 Monday ,16 July

Sudan ruling party says protests \'ridiculous\'

GMT 07:09 2012 Wednesday ,20 June

Sudan and South Sudan border tensions

GMT 12:02 2012 Tuesday ,17 April

What the Living Do

GMT 17:33 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Caceres recalled to Paraguay squad for Brazil clash

GMT 17:18 2017 Tuesday ,19 December

Bahrain weather forecast

GMT 09:35 2017 Sunday ,29 October

Actress Annabella Sciorra accuses Weinstein of rape

GMT 13:43 2017 Thursday ,16 November

People Magazine names Blake Shelton 'sexiest man alive'

GMT 18:10 2017 Monday ,17 April

GCC Secretary-General Condemns Syria Blast

GMT 13:15 2017 Wednesday ,15 February

Inherited the talent to draw on glass

GMT 14:35 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Dar Essalam to Host Two Golf Competitions

GMT 07:22 2016 Saturday ,09 July

Gunfire near presidential palace in South Sudan

GMT 10:42 2017 Wednesday ,16 August

Chinese teen Internet addict dies

GMT 13:51 2017 Thursday ,21 September

King Salman meets with former Turkish president

GMT 09:31 2017 Wednesday ,29 March

NPRA holds training course

GMT 08:18 2017 Thursday ,14 December

Twitter makes 'tweetstorms' easier

GMT 17:19 2012 Thursday ,12 January

New electric-car racing championships
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle