THE BODIES of the dead would hang for days from the railings in the main square of Raqqa. It was a macabre warning to residents that Islamic State (IS) had declared the capital of its so-called caliphate in the Syrian city. Signs around the victims’ necks revealed their crimes. Dozens were executed for spying; others for smoking or listening to music.
This week that reign of terror ended. On October 17th, after four months of heavy fighting, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an army of Kurds and Arabs, took the square. Tying yellow and green flags to the railings where the bodies once hung, they stomped and shouted to celebrate.
The capture of Raqqa highlights how over the past few years the SDF has become the most effective American-backed force in the fight against IS in Syria. Its parent group, the left-wing Democratic Union Party (PYD), now controls a swathe of territory running almost the entire width of northern Syria that it calls Rojava. The PYD...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2ikgm9z
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