Smoke billowed forth near the stadium in the northern city of Raqqa, where ISIS troops hide after US air strikes destroyed that zone on Thursday (12/10/2017) (Reuters via Egypt Today)
The last group of Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) began to leave Raqqa on Saturday (14/10/2017) night, after the capital of their "caliphate" was controlled by US-backed militia
However, ISIS militants take 400 civilians hostage and taken away to be shielded lives that could protect them from possible attacks on militants.
The city of Raqqa in northern Syria fell to ISIS three years ago, shortly after the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced his "caliphate" in Mosul, Iraq
In a withdrawal of ISIS troops, agreed with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Syrian militia surrounded them, ISIS militants must have started leaving Raqqa on Saturday night
Officials provided conflicting reports as to whether foreign fighters would also leave the city, after the SDF battled to expel ISIS from Raqqa since June 2017.
SDF spokesman Talal Silo said every militant who did not sign an agreement allowing them to leave Raqqa should be prepared "to surrender or die".
Omar Alloush, a member of the Raqqa Civil Council, said the evacuation would include foreign militants. He said the evacuation took place on Saturday night until Sunday (15/10/2017).
The jihadis led as many as 400 civilians as human shields, Alloush said.
ISIS's last defensive at Raqqa is a memorial and will be a milestone in the effort to restore the ISIS theocratic "caliphate" announced in 2014 at the mosque of Al Nuri, Mosul.
ISIS has made Raqqa as a base for planning attacks against their Western enemies.
The US-led foreign coalition against ISIS said a convoy had abandoned Raqqa on Saturday in a deal approved by a local party.
It was not explained where the ISIS militants left. However, the ISIS militant escape arrangements were made possible thanks to mediation by the Raqqa Council of Civil Affairs and local Arab tribal chiefs on Thursday (12/10/2017).
