{"id":22334,"date":"2017-10-19T17:42:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T17:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/19\/kurdish-female-militia-vows-to-keep-fighting-isis-militants\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:06:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:06:52","slug":"kurdish-female-militia-vows-to-keep-fighting-isis-militants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/19\/kurdish-female-militia-vows-to-keep-fighting-isis-militants\/","title":{"rendered":"Kurdish female militia vows to keep fighting ISIS militants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIRUT \u2014 A Kurdish female militia that took part in freeing the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from the Islamic State group said on Thursday it will continue the fight to liberate women from the extremists\u2019 brutal rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a highly symbolic gesture, Nisreen Abdullah of the Women\u2019s Protection Units, or YPJ, made the statement in Raqqa\u2019s Paradise Square \u2014 the same place where ISIS fighters once carried out public killings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the all-women force, which is part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces battling ISIS, lost 30 fighters in the four-month battle to liberate Raqqa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the rule of the Islamic State group, women were forced to wear all-encompassing veils and could be stoned to death for adultery. Hundreds of women and girls from Iraq\u2019s Yazidi minority were captured and forced into sexual slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raqqa was center stage of ISIS\u2019 brutality, the de facto capital of the militants self-proclaimed \u201ccaliphate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have achieved our goal, which was to pound the strongholds of terrorism in its capital, liberate women and restore honor to Yazidi women by liberating dozens of slaves,\u201d Abdullah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of several factions including the YPJ, said on Tuesday that military operations in Raqqa have ended and that their fighters have taken full control of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, Col. Ryan Dillon, tweeted on Thursday that the SDF has cleared 98 percent of the city, adding that some militants remain holed up in a small pocket east of the stadium. Dillon added that buildings and tunnels are being checked for holdouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as the guns have gone quiet, preparations for a reconstruction are underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Saudi Arabia, a state-linked news website said a high-level Saudi official was in Raqqa to discuss the kingdom\u2019s \u201cprominent role in reconstruction\u201d efforts. The Okaz site quoted unnamed Saudi sources as saying that Thamer al-Sabhan met with members of Raqqa\u2019s city civil. The website said the United Arab Emirates will also play a role in rebuilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report included a photograph of al-Sabhan, apparently in Raqqa with Brett McGurk, the top U.S. envoy for the coalition battling the ISIS. Saudi Arabia is a member of the coalition. Al-Sabhan was previously ambassador to Iraq, but left amid threats from Iranian-backed militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SDF is expected to hold a news conference in Raqqa on Friday during which the city will be declared free of extremists, for the first time in nearly four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t