What will happen to Raqqa after ISIL? | ISIS | Al Jazeera
By
Mariya Petkova
Outside Atma camp in Syria's northern Idlib province, Abu Mokhles has
been sleeping on the street for two days. It is the second time in two
months that he and his family have had no shelter.
His ordeal began in Raqqa province in late May, when the US-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) advanced on the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in the town of al-Mansoura.
As aerial bombardment of the area intensified, he and his family fled
from their home on the outskirts of town. They spent the first days of
the holy month of Ramadan hungry and terrified, sleeping out in the open in a nearby grove.
Eventually they fled to Ain Issa camp, 50km north of Raqqa city, in
SDF-controlled territory. But the deplorable conditions in the camp -
which Abu Mokhles described as a "prison" - forced the family to leave
for Idlib.
With thousands displaced, its infrastructure destroyed, and multiple
forces seeking power in governance, Raqqa's post-ISIL future will be
uncertain [File: Reuters]
