New Delhi: US-backed SDF fighters have liberated the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State.
This is a major victory for the forces that had joined hands to eliminate ISIS from the city which served as a de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Residents who had lived under the repressive rule of Islamic militants celebrated this victory. Fighters could be seen cheering and firing celebratory gunfire in the streets.
Greater joy of a woman rescued from #IslamicState #ISIS in #Raqqa!
Woman singing, dancing throwing #Burkas joys of #Freedom pic.twitter.com/MvR1G2zdc2
— ASJ Baloch (@ASJBaloch) October 14, 2017
Col. Ryan S. Dillon, a spokesman for the United States military in Baghdad, said that Raqqa was on the verge of being liberated, but that there were still pockets of the city controlled by the Islamic State.
However, this victory has come at a heavy cost because much of the city has been devastated by American-led airstrikes that killed more than 1,000 civilians, according to tallies by local activists and international monitors. In earlier years, many were killed by Russian and Syrian government strikes. About 270,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting, and thousands of homes have been destroyed.
The battle against the Islamic State has also led to unusual partnership between the United States, Russia and Iran as all are fighting the group in their own capacity to thwart their advance. Russia has played a significant role in curtailing the power of ISIS. Russian fighters have bombed key military installations and many senior members of the terrorist group have been killed in the air strike.
The fighting between advancing SDF units and ISIL holdouts was especially bitter at the al-Naim roundabout in Raqqa’s center, which had been dubbed ‘the Circle of Hell’.
Destroyed and depopulated, Raqqa also faces an uncertain political future. The US and SDF have pledged to hand over the city to civilian rule, but the shape and political make-up of this civilian entity remain unclear. Various ethnic, tribal and geopolitical factors will complicate the handover, Al Jazeera has reported.
With the fall of Raqqa, the Islamic State has lost the two most important cities of its self-declared caliphate in three months. It was forced out of Mosul in July, and now holds only a fraction of the territory it once controlled.
