(Zaman Al Wasl)- ISIS-planted landmines have killed five civilians in eastern Raqqa city, local monitoring group said on Saturday.
Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently said 5 people had been killed in explosives left by ISIS militants. The radical group was defeated by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on October 17 after a months-long battle.
Two weeks ago, hundreds of civilians returned to the battered Raqaa in what the SDF said was the first wave of returns since it cleared explosives left by militants.
Tens of thousands of people fled the city during the offensive, reducing Raqqa to a ghost town of collapsed buildings.
According to AFP, the SDF informed civilians that they could return to their homes after mine-removal teams had finished clearing the entire neighborhood of explosives left indiscriminately in civilian homes by ISIS.
After capturing Raqqa, the SDF sealed off the city to allow for mine removal operations in bombed-out neighbourhoods.
Residents often amassed at checkpoints in recent weeks, waiting for permission to access the city and see if their homes were still standing.
Some civilians who sneaked in were killed by unexploded ordnance.
Mine-clearing and reconstruction operations in Raqqa are being coordinated by the Raqqa Civil Council, a provisional local government body appointed by the SDF but based outside the city.
After capturing Raqqa in 2014, ISIS used the city as a hub for the administration of its self-styled “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
More than 343,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests that were brutally suppressed. (With AFP)
Zaman A Wasl
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