Syrian PM’s Advisor: US Only Replaced Daesh Terrorists with Kurdish Forces in Raqqa
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior adviser to Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said the US-led coalition forces have not liberated the northern city of Raqqa but only replaced the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) elementts with Kurdish forces to cover up their support for the terrorists.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Abdul-Qader Azouz, who is also a professor of politics, rejected Washington’s claims about the liberation of Raqqa from Daesh and said what happened was not liberation of the city but replacement of Daesh with a group called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is also sponsored by the US.
He further emphasized that the Damascus government has a clear stance against all measures taken by the US-led coalition.
The adviser went on to say that the coalition is destroying the infrastructure of Raqqa and targeting civilians in the city.
He added that the operation was meant to destroy the evidence of the US role in the emergence of Daesh and its support for the terrorist group.
The SDF announced on October 20 that they had fully cleared Raqqa from Daesh with the support of the US.
The US-led alliance confirmed this report a few hours later and US President Donald Trump called the operation to free the city a "critical breakthrough" and claimed that a "transition into a new phase" would follow it.
The city of Raqqa had been the capital of the self-proclaimed Daesh "caliphate" in Syria for four years. In early June the SDF and the anti-Daesh coalition launched an operation to force Daesh to exit the city.
However, an official source at the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that Syria considers the United States claims about the liberation of Raqqa city from Daesh as lies aiming to divert international public opinion from the crimes committed by this alliance in Raqqa province.
Syria considers, and will consider, Raqqa an occupied city until it comes under the control of the Syrian army, the official said.