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A soldier of the SDF searching through the debris of a destroyed building in Raqqa Morukc Umnaber

US-backed forces declare victory over the Islamic State's former 'capital'

Raqqa was the Islamic State’s main centre.

A US-BACKED Syrian force has declared victory over the Islamic State (IS) group in its former ‘capital’ of Raqqa today, declaring the northern Syrian city free of any extremist presence.

At a press conference held inside the city today, the Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) formally handed over administration of the devastated northern city to a council made up of local officials and tribal leaders.

In a highly symbolic move, the press conference was held inside the city’s sports stadium which Islamic State militants had turned into an arms depot and a huge prison where they incarcerated and tortured their opponents.

“Our victory is one against terrorism, and the liberation of Raqqa marks the latest chapter in the fight against terrorists in Syria,” said Talal Sillo, a spokesman and senior SDF commander.

Standing before a backdrop of shattered buildings, Sillo urged the international community and aid organisations to assist with the city’s reconstruction.

Associated Press drone footage from Raqqa showed the extent of devastation caused by weeks of fighting between Kurdish-led forces and the Islamic State group and thousands of bombs dropped by the US-led coalition.

Associated Press / YouTube

The footage from yesterday shows the bombed-out shells of buildings and heaps of concrete slabs lay piled on streets littered with destroyed cars. Entire neighbourhoods are seen turned to rubble, with little sign of civilian life.

Uninhabitable city

The video showed entire blocks in the city as uninhabitable with knocked-out walls and blown-out windows and doors, while some buildings had several stories turned to piles of debris. The stadium that was used as an arms depot and prison by the extremists appears to have suffered less damage compared with surrounding buildings.

Sillo said 655 local and international fighters lost their lives during the four-month battle for Raqqa.

We call upon all countries and peace-loving forces and all humanitarian organisations to participate in rebuilding the city and villages around it and help in removing the scars of war that were inflicted by the IS group.

Long before the ground offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces began in Raqqa in early June, warplanes pounded the city for months.

The US-backed Kurdish-led SDF announced on Tuesday they have driven IS militants out of the city after weeks of fighting.

The fall of Raqqa marks a major defeat for IS, which has seen its territories steadily shrink since last year. IS took over Raqqa, located on the Euphrates River, in January 2014, and transformed it into the epicentre of its brutal rule.

Read: US-backed forces have driven the Islamic State out of its former ‘capital’

More: Iraqi forces seize ground from Kurds amid soaring tensions between two US allies

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
    Favourite Nigel O'Neill
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    May 3rd 2014, 8:44 AM

    Seems a nice guy but after the whole Gilmartin interview on the Late Late last night, on top of everything else of course…how could anyone consider voting FF!??

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    Mute Patrick Bryan
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    May 3rd 2014, 8:24 AM

    “…the MEP is one again sitting pretty ..” who writes this?!

    81
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    Mute trebloc01
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    May 3rd 2014, 8:28 AM

    Not good at responding to email from constituents

    71
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    Mute Niall Power
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    May 3rd 2014, 9:22 AM

    Regardless of this mans apparent popularity,
    Ff destroyed this country and our children’s future,
    Ff people are only motivated by what’s best for the party and by personal enrichment,
    Ff are like a cancer on this country they are in remission now,
    But slowly and silently they will come back,
    And continue to squeeze the life out of Ireland at your expense!

    Why are Irish people so easily fooled by these chancers?
    Remember party first!

    61
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    Mute Johnny Downes
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    May 3rd 2014, 10:15 AM

    This guy is more of a celebrity than a politician. What has he done for his constituents? Apart from being the nice FF guy, cutting ribbons, and presenting awards, and grabbing photo ops, what has he really contributed to to the betterment of his constituency, and the country.

    50
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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    May 3rd 2014, 11:36 AM

    Good point..my thoughts too

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    May 3rd 2014, 12:40 PM

    Strange,
    Other commenters are popular when they criticise him for “parish pump” politics, while the “what has he done for his constituents” question is equally popular.
    Brian Crowley has done excellent work for the country, not just his constituents, through his active participation in EU business. He has a record that shows independence from party politics while working for all of us. Framework 7 is one hell of an achievement, and we are seeing benefit from it, although it’s sad that you don’t.
    We need a lot more people like him in Europe.

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    Mute Solbank Sabadell
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    May 4th 2014, 8:26 AM

    As in 07 this is 2014 and even then he didn’t show up for most of votes. Come on now.

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    Mute Solbank Sabadell
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    May 4th 2014, 8:38 AM

    He holds record for poorest attendance 27%, should he then receive the €7,056.87 salary per month of an MEP?

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    Mute The Hungry Boards
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    May 3rd 2014, 7:54 AM

    “Poll-topper” sounds like a rude insult.

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    Mute richard fennessy
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    May 3rd 2014, 9:35 AM

    U vote Fianna Fáil because your daddy and mammy did. God fu-/:n help us

    36
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    Mute MonaghanRichie
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    May 3rd 2014, 9:21 AM

    Afraid of not knowing his euro parliament so wouldn’t take part in quiz & still got his rehearsed lines wrong still a Fianna failure as far as I’m concerned & 36% of Fianna FAILZHEIMERS will vote for him have they learnt nothing from recent times ?

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    Mute corkboi
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    May 3rd 2014, 8:35 AM

    Brian doesn’t have to canvass , boi

    29
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    Mute Henry Shields
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    May 3rd 2014, 9:35 AM

    Fianna Failer but I have to say Brian is a genuine man. He has time for people and would stop to talk if he can.

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    Mute Irish Cottage Rental
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    May 3rd 2014, 12:46 PM

    So Fianna Fáil trash the country and yet polls indicate that the voters of Ireland South are going to vote for this guy in their thousands. We get what we deserve!

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    Mute Dan Cronin
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    May 3rd 2014, 11:47 AM

    Extremely petty actually ,Brian is the best politician in this country able to speak and debate on any issue at any time.all I see here is the usual rubbish about ff which by what I hear ff caused all the trouble in every bank in the world, yes there was issues but lots of parties have issues like Sinn Fein who appear to bbquite able to forget its criminal past time and time again

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    May 3rd 2014, 4:25 PM

    @Dan Cronin…you obviously think we are all fools when it comes to FF and you must not have seen the Gilmartin interview last night in the Late Late either!? Your party was and is rotten to the core

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    Mute Dan Cronin
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    May 3rd 2014, 4:37 PM

    Mr O’neill I believe a man was on talking about people who were willing to throw money around trying to curry favours as wrong surely as the man who took it.i noticed you missed the bit of my post on the shinners and your post is also very disingenuous to the thousands of ordinary decent people who are members of our party.

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    Mute Barry
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    May 3rd 2014, 10:59 AM

    Are there not 5 vacant seats at present?

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    Mute eastsmer
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    May 3rd 2014, 1:23 PM

    A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.
    They will never lose, we don’t see any of the good times they had, but when they are losing money we have to pay.

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    Mute eastsmer
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    May 3rd 2014, 1:28 PM

    Hey, wrong article, sorry about that!

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    Mute Thomas Dooly
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    May 3rd 2014, 2:28 PM

    Good comment,though ;)

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    Mute Solbank Sabadell
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    May 4th 2014, 8:18 AM

    Brian Crowley is the son of a FF TD Flor Crowley who was famous because he never spoke in the dail in his entire career. Brian is the exact same never speaks for anyone but himself at election time. Its horrible to think that he has won the lotto twice being elected rarely showed and his greed brings him back to the trough. Its horrible to think that the people of Cork could re-elect him. He can’t do the quiz as he definitely doesn’t know the answers.

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    Mute Ben Coughlan
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    May 4th 2014, 5:26 PM

    Most ineffective MEP we have, I believe this guy is part of the reason why the south has been left behind regarding generating good jobs, or replacing the shrinking pharma and medical devices industries with a viable alternative.

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