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U.S.-Backed Forces Capture Raqqa From ISIS U.S.-Backed Forces Capture Raqqa From ISIS
(about 2 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Kurdish-led forces said on Tuesday that they had taken all of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, a major blow to the militant group, which had long used it as the de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate. BEIRUT, Lebanon — American-backed forces said on Tuesday that they had seized the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, a major blow to the militant group, which had long used the city as the de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Officers with the Syrian Democratic Forces, an American-backed militia group made up of Syrian Kurds and Arabs, said by phone and in press statements that they had taken control of the city after a monthslong campaign. But the United States Central Command stopped short of declaring victory, saying that fighters were checking to make sure all areas were clear. The apparent rout of the last Islamic State fighters touched off celebrations in Raqqa, where residents had lived under the repressive rule of militants who beheaded people for offenses as minor as smoking. Fighters could be seen cheering and firing celebratory gunfire in the streets, according to residents reached by phone and text message.
Celebrations had already begun in Raqqa, where residents had lived under the repressive rule of militants who beheaded people in a central square for offenses as minor as smoking or communicating on the internet without permission. Fighters could be seen cheering in the streets, according to residents reached by phone and text message. The United States Central Command stopped short of declaring victory, saying “more than 90 percent of Raqqa is in S.D.F. control,” a reference to the Syrian Democratic Forces, an American-backed militia group made up of Syrian Kurds and Arabs. A White House spokesman, Michael Anton, said, “We are still trying to confirm the truth here.”
Still, the victory came with a heavy cost. Much of the city was devastated by American-led airstrikes that killed more than 1,000 civilians, according to tallies by local activists and international monitors. About 270,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting, and thousands of homes were destroyed. But officers with the Syrian Democratic Forces were emphatic in phone interviews and public statements that they had finally wrested control of the city from the militants after a monthslong campaign. “The military operation is over,” said Talal Salo, a commander reached by phone at the group’s headquarters in Hasaka.
Dr. Mohammad Ahmed Saleh, a resident now working in a hospital in the nearby city of Tal Abayad, said he was eager to get home but bracing himself for what he might see. He added that all remaining Islamic State fighters had either been killed or had surrendered to a tribal council. The bodies of dozens of foreign fighters were found in the national hospital in Raqqa after a last-ditch battle there, he said, an account confirmed by a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces who said he had seen at least 22 corpses there.
“I’m expecting to see a new Hiroshima,” he said by phone, taking a break from treating a new batch of 19 wounded people, a mix of civilians and fighters for the Islamic State recently escaped from Raqqa. “I’m trying to be mentally prepared when I go. I’ll be lucky if I see one of my house’s walls still standing.” Whether final or not, the seemingly inevitable defeat in Raqqa of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, carries heavy symbolic weight. At its height in 2014, the group controlled Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, as well as Raqqa and large stretches of land on both sides of the border, and it had grand aspirations to double the size of its territory.
Raqqa, a remote city on the Euphrates River, took on enormous symbolic importance in Syria’s multisided war. In 2013, it became the first capital of a province to fall to rebels fighting the Syrian government. But a year later, it was taken over by Islamic State fighters, who in June 2014 overran the city of Mosul, Iraq, and declared a caliphate. The Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who once spent time in a prison run by occupying American troops in Iraq, claimed to be the successor to the caliphs, the Islamic emperors who shaped the region in past centuries. He persuaded tens of thousands of Muslims from around the world, some new to the faith or poorly versed in it, to travel to the region to fight.
The battle against the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL, has consumed the region and led to uncomfortable alliances between domestic rivals like Kurds and Arabs in both Iraq and Syria. It has led to even touchier de facto partnerships internationally, with the United States, Russia and Iran all fighting the Islamic State in sometimes competing efforts and vying for influence in the aftermath. The group seized the ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria and those of Hatra in Iraq, destroying important historical monuments in the name of its interpretation of Islam. But with the fall of Raqqa, it no longer controls a major city.
Analysts say the Islamic State is already preparing for a new phase, morphing back into the kind of underground insurgency it started as, taking root among disaffected Sunni populations that were willing to tolerate, if not wholeheartedly embrace, its ultraconservative brand of Islam. And while many Arabs quickly soured on the group because of its brutal crackdowns and unfulfilled promises, their underlying political disaffection has not been addressed.
Another major concern, now that Islamic State-held territory is reduced, is what to do with the foreigners who had joined the fight and might return home to plan attacks there.
Some foreign fighters from Arab, European and Central Asian countries are gathering in smaller towns in Syria’s desert area and no longer plan to fight alongside Syrians, who they have decided are untrustworthy, according to one such fighter who gave his name as Yehya and who recently gave several interviews by phone and text.
The victory in Raqqa came at a heavy cost. 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. About 270,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting, and thousands of homes have been destroyed.
Dr. Mohammad Ahmed Saleh, a resident of the city now working in a hospital in Tall al-Abayad, said he was eager to return home but was bracing for the worst.
“I’m expecting to see a new Hiroshima,” he said by telephone, taking a break from treating a newly arrived contingent of 19 wounded people from Raqqa, a mix of civilians and fighters for the Islamic State. “I’m trying to be mentally prepared when I go. I’ll be lucky if I see one of my house’s walls still standing.”
Many former residents said they had no plans to go back. “Today, I decided to start a new life,” said Wadha Huwaidi, who fled Raqqa a few months ago. “I’m sad, of course, but I had nothing left there. My house was destroyed, my children, my husband all collapsed. There’s nothing left that makes me feel I want to go back.”
It is unclear what happened to the last several hundred Islamic State fighters who had been holed up in Raqqa. There had been conflicting reports about whether foreign fighters among them would be allowed to evacuate on buses in a surrender deal.
Last week, the United States-led coalition said there would be no negotiated withdrawal of Islamic State fighters, just the evacuation of civilians, if necessary, to keep them out of the crossfire. But in previous battles, in Hawija and Tal Afar, surrendering fighters were allowed to board buses to Islamic State-held territory.
The fall of Raqqa also threatens to inflame relations between Kurds and Arabs, who have been fighting the Islamic State in an uneasy alliance with the United States-led coalition, but against an enemy that is rapidly melting away. Most immediately, they may be at odds over the future governance of Raqqa.
Similar tensions were on display in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Monday after Iraqi government forces drove out Kurdish forces to the cheers of Turkmen and Arabs in the ethnically mixed city.
The battle against the Islamic State has also led to touchy de facto partnerships internationally, with the United States, Russia and Iran all fighting the Islamic State in sometimes competing efforts, vying for influence.
The Syrian government and its allies, Iran and Russia, are steadily driving the Islamic State from Deir al-Zour to the south, and a crucial question is whether the government will ultimately seek to retake full control there.