Fighters from Syria’s Raqqa battle to oust Daesh from their hometown

RAQQA, Syria — Khalil Al Hussein fled the Daesh terror group's Syrian stronghold Raqqa 18 months ago, but now he is back and fighting to help oust the extremists from his hometown.

The 25-year-old is one of several members of a Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting Daesh who are originally from the northern city.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces began an operation to capture Raqqa last year, and finally entered the city earlier this month.

It was the first time Hussein had been inside his hometown since he fled, following years under terrifying Daesh rule.

"I fled Raqqa because the crimes of Daesh became too much to bear: the punishments, the decapitations, prison, insults," he told AFP.

"I want to find my house again whatever the price  — even if I have to die," said Hussein, who lived in the city's eastern district of Al Rumeilah.

When the SDF broke into Raqqa city for the first time on June 6, Hussein was among their ranks.

"I want to liberate my city from Daesh," he said passionately, standing on the city outskirts, his head wrapped in a green scarf.

"I'm not just here for my house, I'm here to liberate my city's people."

 'Beautiful memories' 

Located in a remote desert region and bordered to the south by the Euphrates River, Raqqa was little known internationally before the country's conflict erupted in March 2011.

It was the first provincial capital to fall to rebels, but Daesh extremists seized it from opposition fighters in 2014, and transformed it into their de
facto Syrian capital.

Since then, it has become synonymous with the group's worst atrocities, a place of public executions and prison sentences for such "crimes" as smoking or wearing jeans.

But the city still holds a special place in the hearts of its natives, including Hussein, who smiles when he talks about it.

"There is nothing more beautiful than Raqqa," he said, his eyes shining.

"I have beautiful memories of the pretty streets, the generous residents and the coexistence between communities."

 Raqqa had some 300,000 residents before the war, most of them Sunni Arabs.

But the population was also about 20 per cent Kurdish and included thousands of Syriac and Armenian Christians.

Hussein signed up with the SDF after fleeing Raqqa, joining the ranks of its Kurdish and Arab fighters, many of them like him from Raqqa city.

'We will free Raqqa' 

At his side, on the outskirts of the city, his fellow fighters discuss the unfolding battle, in which the SDF has so far captured four neighbourhoods, two in the east and two in the west.

Hussein's Al Rumeilah neighbourhood, however, remains under Daesh control.

Some of the fighters smoke, while others take photos of the city.

A group join hands, some with weapons slung over their shoulders, and dance the traditional Middle Eastern "dabke" to celebrate their advances.

"We feel great joy," said Abu Saleh Al Hindawi, a fighter who commands Arab members of the SDF.

He is also from Raqqa, and participated in the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad's government when it began in 2011, before later joining the SDF.

Walid Al Khalaf, perched on a pick-up truck and bearing an automatic weapon, is also originally from Al Rumeilah district, and left last year.

"I haven't seen my house for eight months. I can't describe how I feel," the 28-year-old said.

"I left my house with nothing but a blanket and mattress."

 Now, he has a single thing on his mind.

"We will free Raqqa, and God willing the battle won't last long," he said.

"And wherever the extremists go, we will pursue them."