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    26-Mar-2017

Five Facts on the IS-Held Syrian City of Raqa

 

AFP

 

As an international coalition prepares a final push to drive the Islamic State (IS) group from Raqa, here are five facts about the northern Syrian city:
 
- Ancient capital -
 
In an area inhabited since antiquity, Raqa reached its heights under the Abbasid caliphate. From 796 to 809, the powerful caliph Harun al-Rashid transferred the capital of his empire from Baghdad to Raqa, which sat at the crossroads of key trade routes. Major works were ordered and the city was dotted with grand palaces and mosques.
 
The caliph's court returned to Baghdad in 809 and Raqa remained a major administrative center for the western part of the empire. In 1258 the city was destroyed by the Mongol invasion.
 
- Strategic location -
 
Raqa and its eponymous province occupy a strategic location where several major roads intersect on the banks of the Euphrates River.
 
It is east of Syria's second city Aleppo, 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the Turkish border, and less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the border with Iraq.
 
Raqa previously prospered from agriculture in the fertile river valley and benefited from nearby hydroelectric dams that generated power for much of Syria.
 
- First major city to fall -
 
Two years after the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Raqa was the first provincial capital to fall to rebels, among them the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaida's then-affiliate in the country.
 
But tensions soon erupted into clashes between al-Nusra and fellow jihadists of a precursor of IS.
 
On January 6, 2014, fierce fighting between the rival groups ended when IS' predecessor seized control of the city.
 
Five months later, Mosul in Iraq fell to the jihadists and on June 29, IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a "caliphate" that covered territory in both countries.
 
- IS bastion, gruesome theater -
 
Raqa became a key city in IS's self-declared caliphate, a hub for the organization's activities and attacks in Syria, Iraq and further afield.
 
IS took over all levels of civil administration, rewriting school curriculums, establishing Islamic courts and creating police units to implement Islamic law.
 
Raqa also became the scene of some of IS' worst atrocities, including gruesome executions, public displays of bodies and the selling of sex slaves.
 
- Coalition target -
 
The city has long been a target of the U.S.-led coalition that launched operations against IS in Syria and Iraq in mid-2014, and it has also been hit by Russian airstrikes.
 
IS has since suffered a string of territorial defeats at the hands of U.S.-backed forces in Syria and Iraq.
 
On November 5, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance, launched a major offensive dubbed "Wrath of the Euphrates" to take Raqa, where some 300,000 civilians are believed to live.
 
IS is also under pressure on other fronts from a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive, and an assault by rebels supported by Turkey.
 
Ankara considers the Kurdish component of the SDF a "terrorist" force linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party.
 
The U.S. says the 30,000-strong SDF now comprises mainly Arab fighters and has provided airlift and artillery support.
 
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday that Raqa was now surrounded and that the final push would begin "in coming days."
 
But an SDF spokesman was more circumspect saying several weeks of preparatory work was still needed.
 
 

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