Islamic State is on the verge of defeat in Syria’s Raqqa and the city may finally be cleared of the jihadists on Sunday, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia told reporters. A local official separately said that tribal elders from Raqqa were seeking to broker a deal where remaining Islamic State fighters, including foreigners, would leave the city, taking civilians with them as human shields. The final defeat of Islamic State at Raqqa will be a major milestone in efforts to roll back the group’s self-declared “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, where earlier this year the group was driven from the city of Mosul. Omar Alloush, a member of the Raqqa Civil Council, said the 100 Islamic State fighters who had already surrendered had been convinced to do so during talks with the tribal elders. “We still expect difficult fighting in the days ahead and will not set a time for when we think (Islamic State) will be completely defeated in Raqqa,” he said, adding that around 85% of Raqqa had been liberated.

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 14, 2017 14:37 UTC