US-Led Coalition: 100 Daesh Militants Surrender in Raqqa in 24 Hrs.

Local Editor

The US-led coalition backing the offensive on the Syrian city said Saturday that dozens of Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] group militiamen had surrendered over the past day in their one-time bastion Raqqa.

"Within the past 24 hours, approximately 100 ‘ISIS' terrorists have surrendered in Raqqa, and were removed from the city," the coalition said in an emailed statement to AFP.

"Foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqqa," it said.

Earlier on Saturday, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all Syrian Daesh militants -- numbering around 200 insurgents -- had left their former stronghold with their families.

"All Syrian fighters from the ‘ISIS' group left Raqqa over the past five days," said the Britain-based group head Rami Abdel Rahman, saying they headed to unknown destinations.

A Raqqa official told AFP that Syrian Daesh members had surrendered overnight to the US-backed so-called Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] battling to take full control of the city, without specifying how many.

"They sent a message to the ‘Raqqa Civil Council' and to the tribal mediators," the official said.

"Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners -- the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," he said.
Members of the council -- a provisional administration for the city set up by the SDF -- had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians.

Hundreds of civilians had managed to flee the battle-ravaged city, which once served as the de facto Syrian capital of the Wahhabi group.

According to Abdel Rahman, up to 150 foreign militant men remain in the city and negotiations on their fate are still ongoing.

"The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under 'ISIS'  control in Deir ez-Zor province," in eastern Syria, he said.

But a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units [YPG], which spearhead the SDF, denied on Saturday that any discussions were taking place for the surrender of the city.

"We completely deny any negotiations or deal for the exit of Daesh. Until this very moment, we are fighting Daesh," Nuri Mahmoud told AFP.

Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the SDF's Arab and Kurdish fighters had recaptured around 90 percent of Raqqa from Daesh.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team