BEIRUT: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, said on Friday it had taken the last districts in the old city of Raqqa from Daesh, but the US-led coalition which backs it could not confirm the report.
“We declare to our people the liberation of the old city of Raqqa,” the SDF said in a statement.
The SDF has been battling to capture the former de facto capital of Daesh’s self-declared caliphate since June with backing from US-led jets and special forces.
The walled old city lies in the heart of Raqqa but the jihadist group still holds important districts in the west of the city. The SDF said it now held 65 percent of Raqqa in total.
A war monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said it was not true that the SDF had fully captured the old city, but added that it did hold more than 90 percent of that area.
The coalition said it was not yet able to confirm the news. “We have not received confirmation of that through our channels,” coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said. (Reporting By Angus McDowall)
US-backed Syria forces seize Raqqa Old City from Daesh
US-backed Syria forces seize Raqqa Old City from Daesh
Syrian authorities arrest leader of terrorist cells in Lattakia
- Ali Aziz Sbeira is accused of violating civilians’ rights during the Syrian uprising after 2011
LONDON: Syrian authorities have arrested Ali Aziz Sbeira, a prominent leader of terrorist cells responsible for attacks on internal security checkpoints, the Syrian army and civilians during the country’s uprising against the former regime of Bashar Assad.
The Internal Security Directorate announced on Wednesday the capture of Sbeira in Lattakia province, located on the Mediterranean Sea.
Authorities accuse him of leading and supplying arms to terrorist groups. Hailing from the town of Jableh, Sbeira is also accused of having links to Ghiyath Dalla and Brigadier General Nours Makhlouf, two military figures associated with the former rule of Assad.
Sbeira is accused of violating civilians’ rights during the Syrian uprising after 2011, when he joined the National Defense Militia and helped suppress peaceful demonstrations, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
In 2014, he joined the 4th Armoured Division, which was commanded by Maher Assad, brother of the former president, from 2018 until the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024.
