In Syria's Raqqa, IS Makes Last Stand at City's Stadium

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: AP

U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led forces battling the Islamic State group in Syria captured the city hospital in Raqqa on Tuesday, leaving IS militants holed up at the local stadium, their last stand in the fight over what was once the extremists' de facto capital.

The hospital was one of IS last holdouts in Raqqa and had doubled as a hospital and an IS command center. Its capture left IS militants cornered in and around the notorious municipal stadium, which they had turned into a huge prison where they incarcerated anyone who opposed their brutal rule.

Musafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said 22 IS militants were killed in the advance on the hospital. The fighting was still underway with militants who had refused to surrender, he said.
...
"The stadium is a huge structure with underground rooms and tunnels. There are also buildings around it" still under the control of IS. He added that the fighting is ongoing "and there is nothing decisive today."

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-10-17/in-syrian-city-of-raqqa-is-loses-hospital-another-holdout

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BBC report:

Earlier, a convoy of local IS fighters and their families left Raqqa as part of a planned departure.

No foreign fighters were allowed to join them, the SDF said.
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There were no air strikes for the first time in months on Monday, though fighting is still going on, reports the BBC's Feras Kilani in the city.

Earlier, an SDF vehicle was seen patrolling the ruined streets with a loud speaker urging people to come out of into the open and "eat hot soup".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41646802

[AngryAmish]

1. SDF now says on Twitter the whole city is clear.

[Hortensis]

2. Grim good news. And Syrian commander now claiming IS is defeated in Raqqa.

ABC:

"Brig. Gen. Talal Sillo told The Associated Press that there are no longer clashes in the city, which had served as the extremist group's headquarters and self-proclaimed capital of their so-called "caliphate" for more than three years.

A formal declaration will be made from the city soon, after the clearing operations end. Raqqa is still full of land mines, Sillo added, but fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces are now in control of the former "capital of terrorism."

Dozens of militants who refused to surrender had made their last stand in the city's stadium, which had become notorious as a prison and dungeons for the group.

Earlier Tuesday, the Kurdish-led SDF forces captured the city hospital, the other last remaining IS holdout in Raqqa. The facility had doubled as a hospital and an IS command center.

Its capture left IS militants cornered in and around the notorious stadium, which they had turned into a huge prison where they incarcerated anyone who opposed their brutal rule. After Sillo's statement, it was not immediately clear if the IS militants were still inside the stadium.

No definitive statement on whether IS was holding civilians in the stadium.

[IronLionZion]

3. U.S.-backed force claims capture of Islamic States de facto Syrian capital Raqqa

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-backed-force-claims-capture-of-islamic-states-de-facto-syrian-capital-raqqa/2017/10/17/d2e36eca-b24c-11e7-99c6-46bdf7f6f8ba_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_raqqafall-845am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.4d8b8d2f4fb0

[left-of-center2012]

4. Why ...

"a convoy of local IS fighters and their families left Raqqa as part of a planned departure"

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. My speculation: a compromise to avoid more fighting and then revenge attacks by relatives

These local fighters, and their surviving relatives, may claim they were just rebelling against Assad, and joined the de facto controlling group of the city, ie ISIS. The end result of this is most likely to be the deaths of any ISIS members who continue to fight, and if the SDF want to control the city after this, they don't want relatives who blame them for the deaths of locals and might carry out terrorist attacks against them. By giving an amnesty to locals, they cut the number of ISIS fighters they have to face, and make it easier to run the city afterwards.

Aggrieved relatives of foreign ISIS fighters aren't likely to come to Raqqa just for revenge; if that's in their minds, they'll do it against the nearest western target to them.

[LiberalLovinLug]

6. yes, and also perhaps many of these local fighters may have been forced to fight for IS