Foreign and Syrian militants from the Islamic State group are to evacuate their former stronghold of Raqqa, as US-backed forces near the capture of the city, a senior official said yesterday.
Omar Alloush, a senior member of the local Raqqa Civil Council, said the deal would see IS fighters either turn themselves in or leave on buses, possibly to neighbouring Deir Ezzor province.
The news of an evacuation of IS fighters came shortly after the US-led coalition backing the assault on the city announced a convoy would leave Raqqa in a deal to minimise new civilian casualties.
But the coalition specifically ruled out the exit of foreign IS fighters while making no mention of local fighters, and warned against any deal that allowed militants safe passage without “facing justice”. Once the de facto Syrian capital of IS’ self-styled “caliphate,” most of Raqqa is now held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
In recent days, fighting dropped off as local officials tried to negotiate a way to secure the last 10% of the city held by IS while preventing further civilian casualties.
Local tribal leaders issued a statement late yesterday saying they had urged the SDF and US-led coalition to find a way to “settle the status” of Syrian militants in the city and “secure their exit”.
“The Syrian Democratic Forces agreed. We are now preparing a mechanism to evacuate (them)... to protect the lives of civilians who were taken as human shields,” the statement added.
“We as tribal leaders guarantee the lives of those who will be taken out.”
Alloush said up to 500 Syrian and foreign-born militants remained in Raqqa.
“They have 400 hostages with them — women and children — in the national hospital,” he said.
He confirmed foreign IS fighters are “included in the deal” to evacuate militants.
“The foreign fighters have two choices: either surrender or be taken out” of the city, Alloush said, saying it was “possible” they would be taken to Deir Ezzor, an eastern Syrian province where IS still holds territory.
The US-led coalition backing the SDF earlier announced a convoy would leave Raqqa yesterday under a deal negotiated by local officials.
“The arrangement is designed to minimise civilian casualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terrorists as people trapped in the city continue to flee the impending fall of Daesh’s so-called capital,” the coalition said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
“People departing Raqqa under the arrangement are subject to search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces,” it added.
It had earlier insisted that “foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqqa”, and cautioned that it still expected “difficult fighting in the days ahead”. Deals to allow IS fighters to withdraw from territory have been negotiated in the past, including in May when an agreement allowed several dozen militants to flee the town of Tabqa, west of Raqqa. IS captured Raqqa in 2014, and the city has become synonymous with the worst of the group’s abuses, and infamous as a centre for planning attacks abroad.
Since breaking into Raqqa in June, the SDF has captured around 90% of the city, backed by heavy US-led coalition strikes that have rendered whole streets unrecognisable and killed scores of civilians.
“Daesh is on the verge of being finished in Raqqa in the coming days,” said Nuri Mahmud, a spokesman for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units that form the SDF’s backbone.