A spokesman for the US-led coalition announced on October 10 that the so-called Raqqah Civil Council [a political group linked to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces] and “Arab tribal elders” work to protect and evacuate remaining civilians from the ISIS-held part of Raqqah city.
The released statement says that the Raqqah Civil Council “is leading discussions to determine the best way to enable civilians trapped by Daesh to exit the city, where some are being held as human shields by the terrorists.”
The statement came amid continued clashes in Raqqah where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are still unable to break the ISIS defense in the city center.
At the same time, a number of reprots appeared that the US-led coalition and the SDF are conducting intense negotiations with ISIS over a possible withdrawal of the terrorists from Raqqah city. According to reports, ISIS units would be allowed to withdraw to Deir Ezzor province where they help their counterparts fighting Syrian government forces.
Previously, the SDF and the US-led coalition allowed ISIS units to withdraw freely from the towns of Manbij and Taqbqa. According to some pro-government experts, allowing ISIS to withdraw the coalition will achieve two goals:
- to declare the “liberation” of Raqqah;
- to slow down government forces advance towards the border with Iraq in the province of Deir Ezzor.
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