Fights for Rakku (2013)

Al-Raqqa was not originally controlled by the rebels. In the city itself there was a small number of demonstrations at the beginning of the Arab spring , but they soon stopped. Civil protests in the city, in full, remained peaceful until the end of 2012. In addition, previous pro-government tribes and the presence of more than half a million fleeing the fighting in the country, mainly from Idlib , Dayr al-Zawr and Aleppo , reinforced the Syrian government's view that Rakka was a relatively safe city. In honor of this, President Bashar al-Assad visited the city to pray in one of his mosques on Kurban Bayram in June 2012. ^[7]

Armed opposition groups entered the governorate through eastern Syria at the end of 2012. This has led to violence by both government forces and opposition groups. Dozens of people accused by the government of participating in terrorist groups were killed in incidents in the Kakhtania region near the city. Also, shelling covered a gas station in the city of Et Tell Al Abyad ; pro-government media rushed to call the incident a terrorist attack ^{[7] [ specify ]} .

By March 2013, the Syrian opposition already controlled most of northern Syria, but still could not establish control over the largest city. The rebels planned an offensive to capture Rakka, where government forces could repel the opposition ^{[8] [9]} .

The rebel forces (mainly Islamist brigades), which were located in the suburbs of Al Raqqi, began to advance from the north and took positions at the northern entrance to the city between March 3 and 5 , with the goal of a breakthrough ^[10] . The attackers crowded the army and seized control of the main square of the city on March 4, and symbolically demolished a large gilded statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad , the late father of the current president. ^[11]

According to the Lebanese newspaper al-Ahbar, although the city was surrounded and did not have significant government forces, it wasn’t normal that it fell in just a few hours. A Lebanese newspaper reported that in the morning, Mantasir Billah and al-Nusra brigades recaptured the Syrian Armed Forces at the eastern entrance to the city and the entire eastern region, while Syrian military police and border guards took property from the city center to the 17th headquarters divisions, without any harassment from the attackers ^[3] .

The rebels also stormed the home of provincial governor Hassan Jalali, reportedly capturing it along with the leaders of Al-Raqqa and the Ba'ath party of Suleiman al-Suleiman ^[9] .

Government forces retreated from the city to the west and east, and also stopped 60 km from the city at the provincial airport ^[10] . The Syrian Air Force carried out air raids against the rebels in the city after its fall ^[12] .

On March 5, a video appeared, which was attended by Hassan Jalal and Suleiman al-Suleiman, surrounded by jubilant rebels ^[2] .

The city was taken by the Free Syrian Army , the Al-Nusra Front , Ahrar al-Sham (part of the Syrian Islamic Front) and the Khutoi bin al-Yaman brigade.

When the city was captured, the supreme commander of al-Nusra in Al-Raqqa governorate, as well as the chief provincial field commander Ahrar al-Sham, were killed. Al Raqqi Police Chief was also killed. Some residents begged the rebels not to enter the city, fearing retaliation by government forces ^[2] .

The last cells of loyalist resistance in the city were eliminated on March 6, when rebels seized several key security buildings where government troops were hiding, after which the Syrian Human Rights Monitoring Center (SCHRC) officially announced that Raqqa was completely under the control of the rebels ^{[11 ] [13] [14]} .

Consequences

Following the capture of the Al-Raqqa rebels by the Syrian Air Force , 25 air attacks were carried out on the city in an attempt to remove the opposition forces. A total of 39 people were killed, including 17 in a strike on the main square. At least 10 of those killed were confirmed as rebels ^{[15] [5]} .

The Syrian army sent army reinforcements from the Tabka military base, but the SCMPH reported that the rebels had intercepted them ^{[16] [17]} .

Some captured government soldiers were publicly executed by Islamic militants.

According to BBS, another 14 people died as a result of another Syrian air attack on March 10, 2013 ^[18] .

On April 4, 2013, it was reported that rebels of the Free Syrian Army besieged the 17th division near Al Raqqa. A Syrian army source said that 80 soldiers were killed and 250 injured in battles, and that many wounded died from gangrene ^[19] .

On May 20, according to the SCMPH, the opposition leader of Al-Raqqi was kidnapped. “The observatory condemns the abduction of the opposition lawyer Abdullah al-Khalil in strong terms and demands his immediate release” ^[20] .

On August 17, 2013, the Islamic State announced that they were no longer participating in the battle with the encircled 17th Division ^[21] . Having occupied the city without a fight, ISIS detachments took up the formation of their own administrative institutions.

On July 25, 2014, the Islamic State took control of the location of the 17th Division, which was very far from the main forces of the Syrian government army and could no longer resist a well-armed enemy.

On the evening of March 5, 2016, as a result of clashes between militants of the Islamic State and local residents, three areas of Raqqa were temporarily released from ISIS. The flag of the Syrian Arab Republic was hung on one of the city’s bridges ^[22] . However, by March 7, the forces of the rebels had dried up and again raised the black banner of the Caliphate over the city.

On May 18, 2016, the planes of the American coalition dropped leaflets on the city calling for civilians to leave it (in response to the IS militants forbade the residents of Raqqi from leaving the city) ^[23] .

On May 19, the concentration of the “ Syrian Democratic Forces ” ( SDF , SDF ) ^[24] began in the northern regions of the province to free the administrative center. According to some reports, a group of 20 thousand people was created, reinforced by armored vehicles. By May 21, the advancing units captured a number of settlements and are now located only 35 km north of the city .

• Battle of Al Raqqa (2017)