This is the story of a Syrian woman who fled Raqqa—the militants’ de-facto capital—with her husband, a former ISIS fighter. It was a place where thousands were imprisoned, tortured and executed. Mustafa noted the council was able to start providing public services in a short period of time, including the construction of 317 schools, where 4,000 teachers are employed and 115,000 students enrolled. Mosul was a conservative, religious city even before Isis arrived, but not praying is punishable by Isis. A woman, we are told, has a daughter in Raqqa… But Isis took over Raqqa, a provincial capital in the north-east, and made it its capital. Raqqa before ISIL Before Raqqa made the headlines as ISIL’s capital and fell in the crosshairs of US foreign policy and regional players’ ambitions, its residents had a quiet provincial life. Raqqa’s iconic clock tower before it was renovated in October 2017. At the very end, the hospital and stadium in Raqqa were defended by foreign Isis fighters. ISIS has imposed its brutal version of Islamic law in Raqqa, which serves as the militant group's capital, as well as other cities in Syria and Iraq. The elite warriors, who posed as the wives of Islamic State chiefs managed to forge their way through to the ISIS’s headquarters. In 19 July 2012 an ongoing military confrontation began in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, as a part of the Syrian Civil War. United States–backed forces said Tuesday they have recaptured the city of Raqqa from ISIS, dealing a major blow to the militants that claimed it as the capital of its so-called caliphate. In Raqqa, the group has banned taxi drivers from working during prayer times. The city was roughly 220,000 before the war, and now it's around 160,000, but people are coming back. So the mine removal has to be the number-one thing that happens before people can safely return. But six years into the conflict, its agriculture has been decimated , and more than 400,000 of its people rely on aid . The sources clarified that the \'SDF\' openly announced finding this \'treasure\', saying that during the storming of a farm located Play Video Media Before the offensive began, some leaders escaped to the city of Mayadin, southeast of Raqqa on the Euphrates River. The discovery, seen by Associated Press journalists over the weekend, was the 16th mass grave found in Raqqa since ISIS militants were driven out in the summer of 2017. June 30, 2014 01:18 What is a Caliphate? U.S.-backed forces are continuing their assault on the Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa. ISIS first seized Raqqa in early 2014, and the city has since become synonymous with the group’s most gruesome atrocities. Haunting images have emerged of war-torn Raqqa after the expulsion of ISIS.. 8 of 8. ISIS was nearly eradicated after losing its last physical territory in March 2019, the SOHR reported. As she speaks, Aysha distances herself from ISIS, saying her husband quit the group before they surrendered. ISIS mined the city – and Karen can probably explain that better – but all over the place. US Commander: We Must Conquer Raqqa Before ISIS Launches Attacks on West Insists US Has 'Sense of Urgency' in Taking Over ISIS Capital Jason Ditz … Isis took control of Raqqa in August 2014, ... A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis . She speaks to us from a refugee camp while her husband is in prison. Before 2013 was out, Isis and al-Nusra were at each other's throats. The dangerous operation, involving eight-man SAS squad was able to pass through ISIS Syrian stronghold of Raqqa undetected and an ISIS commander in his own home, all while wearing burqas. SDF Launches ‘Raqqa Civil Council’ as Battle to Free ISIS Capital Nears Thursday April 20th, 2017 by Al-Hayat (London-based, pan-Arab newspaper) Kurdish-Arab alliance readies for the takeover of ISIS' self-styled capital in Syria's northeast, as the Western-backed forces look to completely cut off Raqqa from surrounding areas before its liberation, Saudi-owned Al-Hayat reports ISIS has controlled Raqqa for nearly two years and much of the foreign press looks to R.B.S.S. From there, the group spread its tentacles into Iraq and Syria. Footage from inside Raqqa before ISIS shows reasons not to bomb the city 9 of 10. One of the colonels that I was driving around with talked about how they were – they found mines in food, in baby formula, in baby cribs. One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. 20 photos of the same places, before and after the Syrian war of the city of Aleppo. Even as Raqqa's people gradually rebuild, the graves found in houses, parks, destroyed buildings are a grim reminder of the horrors perpetrated by the militants and the massive violence inflicted on the city to remove them. Around 40 Russian airstrikes targeted ISIS cells in the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Hama and Raqqa last week after 10 Syrian troops were killed by a landmine attack, the SOHR reported Jan. 17. The video is filled with many attacks against Kurdish-led forces by the jihadist faction using a … Footage from inside Raqqa before ISIS shows reasons not to bomb the city 8 of 10. local sources reported that the \'SDF\' militants seized large quantities of gold that was found inside a concrete room northeast of Raqqa, saying that it discovered what it called \'the treasure of ISIS\' in Raqqa. (Photo: Wladimir van Wilgenburg/Kurdistan 24). The streets of Raqqa before it was under ISIS control, in an undated photo provided to CNN by RBSS. ISIS crushed the other rebel groups in Raqqa over the remainder of 2013, using a car bomb to wipe out one rival brigade. I was in northern Iraq three months before Begum arrived in Raqqa and I interviewed a Christian woman called Fida Boutros Matti who had been captured by Isis … Abu Basir al-Faransy, a young Frenchman, left before the going got really tough in Raqqa. Any remaining Syrian militants had surrendered days before. Before the war, Raqqa province was known as the bread basket of Syria. He’s now in Idlib, where he says he wants to stay. Hide Caption. – The ISIS terrorist group has released a 30-minute propaganda video of its besieged fighters in Raqqa battling it out against the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).