RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Residents in the city of Raqqa, northern Syria, say that they expect an improvement in the security situation in northeastern Syria, and that the region will eventually have more calm and stability.
Muhammad Saddam, an IDP from the city of Deir ez-Zor residing in Raqqa, said that the security and service conditions are improving in Raqqa, and he expected more safety and services during the coming period. “Things here are good and we hope they get better,” he added.
Matrok Yassien, a university student, said, “We in the Autonomous Administration regions live in peace, security, and stability, and the situation here is better than many other parts of Syria.”
In October 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the defeat of ISIS in its self-declared capital in Syria, with the support of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
And after less than a year, life gradually returned to Raqqa, despite the widespread destruction, which the United Nations estimated at about 70-80 percent of the city’s buildings.
However, Yassien noted to the spread of corruption in civil administration institutions and civil society organizations operating in Raqqa, and called on those in charge of these institutions to combat it, saying, “We need to fight corruption in service organizations and institutions.”
In early September, the Raqqa Civil Council revealed the implementation of an anti-corruption campaign targeting employees and officials in the energy sector in the city of Raqqa.
Yassin ruled out the possibility that Turkey would undertake any military operation inside Syria, after its intervention in several countries, the last of which was the intervention in the war that began a few days ago between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Turkey has carried out several military attacks over the past years with the use of Turkish-backed armed opposition groups, through which it took control of Afrin, Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain), Tel Abyad and other Syrian cities.
Khamis Ramadan, an employee of the Raqqa Civil Council, said that conditions are generally good in Raqqa, but the city needs more services because of its extensive destruction.
Supervisors of the Civil Council teams said that they are continuing to remove the rubble and the effects of destruction spreading in the city’s streets as part of the efforts to rebuild the city and provide more stability in public life.
Ramadan does not expect any complete withdrawal of US forces from its bases in the region, which was indicated by officials and senior officers in the Global Coalition on many occasions.
On Monday, Global Coalition spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto tweeted, “CJTFOIR stands beside you in your fight to dismantle what’s left of their terrorist network,” on his official account.
This came in a tweet about the SDF’s destruction of Islamic State (ISIS) hideouts and its elimination of its members in the countryside of Hasakah.