Raqqa is Liberated from the Islamic State

The U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they have defeated the Islamic State in Raqqa,  the de facto Islamic State capital on October 17^th, after a four-month battle for the city.

The militia group took control of the national hospital on October 16^th at night until early morning on Tuesday. 22 Islamic State fighters were killed while securing the hospital, and three others were killed on Monday in underground tunnels that the IS constructed in defense of the city..

Brig. Gen. Talal Sillo  commander of the SDF said a formal declaration will follow regarding “the fall of the capital of terrorism.”

On September 20th the SDF claimed that an estimated 90% of the city was liberated and their remaining areas to regain are were the city center, government administrative buildings, the stadium and the hospital which were reportedly to hold an unknown number of civilian hostages.

After the administrative buildings and command center was captured, the terrorists were corned in and around the stadium.

The commander of the Raqqa campaign for the SDF, Rojda Felat said that the fighting was over but the alliance of the Kurdish and Arab militias are still clearing the stadium of IEDs, booby traps and any remaining terrorists.

The final phase of fighting was launched by the SDF on June 6^th. In September the U.S. -Led coalition estimated that Raqqa was going to be liberated in its entirety by the end of October 2017.

Before the civil war began in Syria, Raqqa was home to 200,000 inhabitants.

The Islamic State has lost most of its territory in Syria and Iraq this year, including Mosul, Tel Afar, areas of Deir Ezzor and now Raqqa. In Syria, the Islamic State has been forced back into a strip along the Euphrates valley and the surrounding desert area.

Raqqa was the first large city captured by the Islamic State in 2014, before its rapid series of victories throughout Iraq and Syria. The city was used for planning operations for warfare within the Middle East as well as several attacks oversea.

Losing Raqqa, which the Islamic State seized from Syrian rebels in early 2014, is symbolically a huge blow to the terror group. Deir Ezzor is the last remaining strategic city left to be taken from the Islamic State. Islamic State continues to operate alongthe Euphrates river valley and in parts of the Iraqi desert province of Al-Anbar. Deir Ezzor  is important because its oil-rich territory and it shares a border with Iraq allowing IS fighters to travel between the two countries.

With the fight against the Islamic State nearing its end, the U.S.-led coalition must continue its persistence to clear the terror group from the last swatches of territory which they control in the region.