REUTERS
A convoy of fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces on trucks pass by in Ain Issa, Syria, Monday. (Reuters/Erik De Castro)
U.S.-backed militias in Syria declared victory over Islamic State in its capital Raqqa on Tuesday, raising flags over the last jihadist footholds after a four-month battle.
The fighting was over and the alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias was clearing the city’s stadium of mines and any remaining militants, said Rojda Felat, commander of the Raqqa campaign for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
A formal declaration of victory in Raqqa will soon be made, once the city has been cleared of mines and any possible Islamic State sleeper cells, said SDF spokesman Talal Selo.
The fall of Raqqa, where Islamic State staged euphoric parades after its string of lightning victories in 2014, is a potent symbol of the jihadist movement’s collapsing fortunes.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory in Raqqa, Syria, October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
The flags in the stadium and others waved in the city streets were of the SDF, its strongest militia the Kurdish YPG, and the YPG’s female counterpart, the YPJ.
Fighters hauled down the black flag of Islamic State, the last still flying over the city, from the National Hospital near the stadium.
Stella's Place 
A hollow victory other than kicking ISIS out. First pix of the city show a shattered city that will have to be rebuilt from the ground up. Residents are refugees and the camps they’ve fled to are bursting at the seams. UN will do little other than make the US fund the camps (if we give money you know where that will end up) and maybe take a few thousand and press them to our diverse bosom.
Don’t think of ISIS as down and out, watch them become yet another amorphous international terrorist group.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Czar Yes, agree wholeheartedly with your assessment!!! My point is THEY did it! Yes I know we did some of the heavy lifting for them…..
LikeLiked by 2 people
In unrelated news, Sir, our Buffs are very busy tonight. That is all.
LikeLike
Thank you Ms.WeeWeed, Wish I was with the boys and girls…….. giv’m my Best!!!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person