Raqqa on 4th anniversary of liberation… turned into safe shelter for all Syrians

During the liberation of the city of al-Raqqa from ISIS mercenaries, foreign and local media, quoting their correspondents, described that Raqqa could not be inhabited by anyone; Because of the massive destruction that befell it, but the people of Raqqa had a different opinion, as soon as it was announced that it was liberated, until the convoys of returnees began crowding the entrances to the city to return home and rebuild it again.

Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, liberated the city of al-Raqqa on October 17^th, 2017, after a fierce 166-day battle, during which Syrian Democratic Forces fighters were able to fully liberate the city of Raqqa and declare victory on October 20^th, 2017.

In this dossier, we will talk about developments in the city over the past four years in all areas, how Raqqa became a safe haven after being the capital of the so - called ISIS caliphate, and how its people supported the Raqqa Civil Council and worked together to rebuild their city.

Today, 4 years after its liberation from ISIS mercenaries, Raqqa is witnessing a very large-scale reconstruction and a modern urban renaissance at all levels of commerce, industry and service. It has become a safe haven for tens of thousands of IDPs, who have gone to the area to seek safety and escape bombing and death in the Syrian interior.

According to statistics of the Raqqa Civil Council 2020; The population of the city stood at 785,000, while the number of IDPs in regular and random camps and IDPs living in houses in Raqqa City was approximately 81,000 from various Syrian areas.

Starting work after the liberation

Al-Raqqa Civil Council began work in the center of a city in which the percentage of destruction reached nearly 90%, and 100% of the infrastructure without electricity, water and sanitation, all of which were out of service, not to mention the earth mounds and cement blocks that were blocking secondary and public roads in all neighborhoods of the city.

Al-Raqqa Civil Council removed educational berms from public roads; To facilitate movement for workers and machineries to work within the city in general.

The most important obstacle to the Raqqa Civil Council was the buried ISIS soldiers (mines), as ISIS mercenaries planted thousands of mines inside the city, along with many minefields on the outskirts of the city, but the demining team of the Internal Security Forces worked hard to dismantle all those mine.

Spread the security and safety

After the liberation of the city of Raqqa, the Internal Security Forces worked to establish security in the area in general and to secure it for the people to enter it. The Internal Security Forces played a major role over the past four years.

The administrator in mine engineering, Youssef Al-Omar, said that the number of mines that were dismantled within the city of Raqqa and its countryside amounted to more than 14,874 mines and IDEs in addition to the destruction of more than 70,729 IDEs, belts and bombs, and the demining team of the Internal Security Forces worked to dismantle them. All to facilitate the reconstruction movement in front of the Raqqa Civil Council.

During the occupation of the city of Raqqa by ISIS mercenaries, they established many mass graves in the countryside of the city, most of them were civilians who were liquidated, and large numbers of the mercenaries themselves were eliminated during the internal fighting that occurred between ISIS mercenaries before the liberation of the city.

After the liberation of the city of Raqqa, the initial response team was established on January 9^th, 2018, and includes 5 departments: "the firefighting team, the ambulance team, the divers team, the forensic team (exhuming the bodies) and the rubble removal team."

The initial response team is one of the important devices that was established in the Raqqa area, after it was liberated from ISIS mercenaries by the Syrian Democratic Forces. The work of the main team depends on intervening in times of emergency and helping civilians, while playing an important role in uncovering mass graves of ISIS mercenaries victims.

During a meeting with the Director of the Initial Response Team, Yasser Al-Khamis, he told ANHA agency: "We have discovered 34 mass graves so far, we have worked on 28 of them, and 6,100 bodies were recovered from them in the city of Raqqa and its countryside, and only 700 of them were identified by their families."

Yasser Al-Khamis said, "The team to retrieve the bodies will go to receive training from an Argentine team to learn how to deal with the bodies and how to identify them through a DNA test device because the record of the missing is very large, and there are promises to provide a DNA test device in the coming period."

The most important service projects that have been accomplished on after the liberation

It is no secret to anyone that the city of Raqqa was badly affected by the war, but it witnessed a wide urban renaissance as a result of the facilities provided by the Raqqa Civil Council to the people of Raqqa, where it worked on many large projects that improved the service reality in the region.

The co-chair of the Local Administration and Municipalities Committee in the Raqqa Civil Council, Ahmed Al-Khidr, spoke to ANHA agency and said: "Since the beginning of the liberation, our most important work has been removing rubble and opening streets. More than 5 million m3 have been removed, in addition to rehabilitating drinking water networks as it is a source of life. Today, the city of Raqqa and its countryside are fully provided by drinking water.

Ahmed Al-Khidr added: "The Local Administration and Municipalities Committee worked to rehabilitate 12 bridges in the city of Raqqa and its countryside out of 60 destroyed bridges, the most important of which was the old Raqqa bridge that connects the southern countryside of Raqqa and the city of Raqqa, and it was rehabilitated with self-efforts by the Raqqa Civil Council."

The Civil Council of Raqqa worked to rehabilitate many roads in the countryside of Raqqa, in addition to paving all the public streets of the city of Raqqa and a number of secondary streets, in addition to the road leading to the northern and western countryside.

Ahmed Al-Khidr indicated that the percentage of electricity access to the people in the city of Raqqa reached more than 75% after it was completely cut off, amid great damage to the city’s electricity networks, while the countryside of Raqqa has completely restored electricity.”

The People’s Municipality in the city of Raqqa worked to light all the main streets in the city of Raqqa to avoid traffic accidents at night and to give the city a beautiful view at night.

Ahmed Al-Khidr concluded his speech by saying: "We have granted 1,230 new building licenses, 1,122 completely destroyed buildings, and 5,390 licenses to practice a profession for shop owners in the city of Raqqa."

Education

One of the priorities of the Civil Council of Raqqa after removing the rubble and removing the earth berm was education, as the Education Committee worked to restore the educational process to the city of Raqqa after a break of more than 5 years, the Council achieved a great achievement in the field of education, as it was able, since the first year after the liberation, to open schools in the city of Raqqa and its countryside.

The number of schools in the city of Raqqa and its countryside reached 400, comprising more than 116,000 students of various educational levels and 5,420 teachers, of which 90 schools were completely restored, while 201 schools were partially restored.

Education Committee of the Civil Council of Raqqa worked to open training courses for male and female teachers in the city of Raqqa and its countryside to develop them and develop new plans for education in the city of Raqqa and its countryside.

Due to the outbreak the COVID 19 affected the educational sector all over the world and Raqqa city also affected, where schools were closed.

This year, the Education Body opened Al Sharq University in the city of Raqqa and its countryside, and opened the door for registration for students, and work is scheduled to start in the next few days.

Huge improvement in health

The health situation in Raqqa and its countryside has been rapidly evolving, and the return of many private and public hospitals, most notably the Raqqa National Hospital, is one of the largest hospitals in Raqqa, which provides 24-hour services.

The National Hospital includes several departments, such as the Interior, Burns, Emergency and Ambulance Departments and the Kindy Department, as well as free vaccines for ailments, poliomyelitis and hepatitis.

The city of Raqqa has three public hospitals: The National Hospital, the Hospital for Gynecology, Obstetrics and Children, and the Crescent Hospital, which provides free services to the people of Raqqa.

During the past year, the Health Committee of the Raqqa Civic Council was able to bring in the axial plate device that the region lacked fully, as well as the opening of another radiography section and a central public laboratory providing free services to the people of Raqqa and its countryside.

Economy and Agriculture

The people of Raqqa depend mainly on agriculture for their livelihood, and the agricultural sector has witnessed, during the past 4 years, a great development in production and cultivated areas compared to previous years, as a result of the service work carried out by the Agriculture Committee, such as repairing irrigation canals and irrigation water pumps in the countryside of Raqqa.

However, the Turkish occupation state worked to fight the region economically and reduced the proportion of the Euphrates River water entering Syria and Iraq from 500 m3 per second to 200 m3 per second, which negatively affected agriculture during the past year, and caused great resentment among the people of Raqqa.

During the occupation of ISIS, the mercenaries had looted all the tools of the huge factories that were in the city of Raqqa, such as the sugar factory and the cotton gin, and they were shipped to Turkey by the mercenaries.

Turkey's relationship with ISIS

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the Turkish occupation state has intervened in Syrian affairs, deluding the whole world that it would like to help the Syrians, but it was working to achieve its interests to occupy the region and restore the Ottoman project that spread ignorance in the region for 400 years.

The Turkish occupation state facilitated the entry of ISIS mercenaries into Syria and Iraq, and was the main financier of ISIS mercenaries, and its territory is the main crossing for ISIS mercenaries and medical and food supplies, and opened its hospitals to treat the wounded mercenaries.

Many evidences proved the Turkish occupation state's treatment and support for ISIS mercenaries, including the purchase of Syrian oil from ISIS mercenaries during their control of the region.

In this regard, ANHA agency met the Vice-co-chairmanship of the Raqqa Civil Council, Hassan Mustafa, who said: "The liberation of Raqqa was a major blow to ISIS, first and the Turkish occupation state second, because it was the main supporter of ISIS mercenaries throughout their stay in the region."

Hassan Mustafa added: "After its liberation, the city of Raqqa became as sfae shelter for all Syrians, after it was the most dangerous area in the world in the presence of ISIS mercenaries in the region."

Hassan Mustafa indicated, "Turkey was supporting ISIS mercenaries and exchanging commercial deals with them, as Turkey takes Syrian oil and provides logistical and military support to ISIS mercenaries by opening roads for the mercenaries."

Hassan Mustafa explained that the sacrifices of the martyrs of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the solidarity of the people of Raqqa with the Raqqa Civil Council has great credit for the achievements and projects presented by the Council in the region in general.

Hassan Mustafa concluded his speech by saying: "The Raqqa Civil Council continues to provide services in the city of Raqqa and its countryside on a permanent basis, and we will work with all our energies so that the city of Raqqa is better than it was in the past."

It is worth noting that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is witnessing a severe siege on all sides, in addition to continuous threats by the Turkish occupation state, which has occupied many areas in north and east Syria, amid continuous international silence about it, in addition to the severe siege that the region suffers from economic circumstance after the closure of the Al-Yaarubiyah crossing.

T/S

ANHA