SDF declare 'total liberation' of Raqqa from IS

CAIRO – 20 October 2017: A U.S.-backed Syrian force has declared victory in the northern city of Raqqa in a press conference on Friday, days after it said it cleared it from members of the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stressed, during the press conference at noon on Friday, the "total liberation" of the Syrian city of Raqqa, which for more than three years was the de facto capital of IS.

“The SDF will hand over authority in the city to a local council and a 3,000-member police force made up mostly of residents of Raqqa province,” said SDF spokesperson Talal Silo on Friday.

The conference was held in the same Raqqa stadium where IS fighters made their last stand earlier this week.

SDF commanders told CNN that the choice of location was intended to add insult to injury following the extremist group's defeat there.

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 epicenter of its brutal rule.