A city apart: Raqqa residents fear ‘separatism’ and the ‘IS card’

RAQQA/PARIS — As evening falls, shopkeepers in Raqqa city hurry to close up before curfew. Before long, sirens blare out, signaling that all residents must remain inside from 7 o’clock in the evening until 5 o’clock in the morning. 

Raqqa has been under curfew since December 12, like all areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. The city’s nights are broken by the sounds of gunfire, raids and arrests as the SDF pursues what it describes as Islamic State (IS) cells. 

With the announcement of Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow at dawn on December 8, “the situation in Raqqa city completely changed—it has been isolated from the rest of Syria,” local media activist Masoud Bilal (a pseudonym) told Syria Direct.

Residents’ joy at the end of the Assad regime has been “incomplete, due to tensions that happened between people celebrating and the [SDF-affiliated] Internal Security Forces [Asayish],” he added. As a result, the SDF declared a curfew in all its areas. 

‘A large prison’

The same day the curfew began, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)—the civil wing of the SDF—announced it would raise Syria’s new flag, the revolution flag, over its institutions. This did not take place in Raqqa, where security forces “arrested people who were raising it in the streets and squares,” two sources in the city told Syria Direct. 

After the AANES adopted the revolution flag, Raqqa residents took to the streets in demonstrations celebrating the fall of the regime. Shots were fired—both by the Asayish and those in the crowd—killing one person and injuring 13 others. Syria Direct could not determine who was responsible for the death and injuries. 

Amid public outrage after the incident, the SDF blocked internet service in Raqqa for hours on December 14 in an apparent effort to isolate the city and its surrounding countryside and tamp down on calls for more demonstrations and celebrations. 

The Asayish imposed a security cordon around Raqqa city and deployed patrols in front of mosques and on main thoroughfares. With that, “the city was cut off from the rest of Syria, amid silence from the new administration about what is happening and being done to us,” activist Bilal said. 

“Armed manifestations [SDF forces] and gunfire terrorize the population, with military vehicles roaming and gunmen in civilian clothes parading in the streets,” he added, describing Raqqa as “a military barracks, a large prison.” 

On the night between this past Monday and Tuesday, heavy gunfire rang out in Raqqa, as armed groups affiliated with the Revolutionary Youth (Ciwanên Şoreşger) celebrated “reports coming from Manbij” that the SDF had retaken the eastern Aleppo city from Turkish-backed factions that captured it on December 9, Bilal said. 

Following the celebratory gunfire, members of the Revolutionary Youth clashed with a number of Raqqa residents on Saif al-Dawla Street, leaving one young man severely injured, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). 

In the past week, the SDF conducted a large-scale arrest campaign in Raqqa city and its countryside against opposition figures, including a local judge, on suspicion of their affiliation with IS, the monitor said, sparking anger in the city. 

The SDF announced on Sunday that it carried out a joint security operation with United States (US)-led international coalition forces on the night of December 21, resulting in the arrest of 18 IS members and collaborators. 

“The arrest campaigns have targeted opposition figures, or those who previously belonged to the Free Syrian Army [FSA],” one humanitarian worker in Raqqa city told Syria Direct, commenting on the arrests. Affiliation with “IS is a ready-made accusation that can be pinned on anyone,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity for his safety. 

The detained judge, Khaled al-Hassan, is a well-known local figure who belongs to a large Arab clan in the eastern Raqqa countryside, an area that is seeing escalation between the SDF and local residents, the source added.

The SDF has not explained why al-Hassan was arrested. Local media platform Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) has suggested he was detained after asking SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi for Raqqa to be represented in any delegation sent to meet with the transitional government in Damascus during a meeting at the 17th Division headquarters in the Raqqa countryside. 

During al-Hassan’s arrest on Sunday, he and his family members were insulted and his house was vandalized, a source close to the judge told Syria Direct. He was released on Monday afternoon. 

Syria Direct reached out to the SDF-affiliated Raqqa Military Council for an official statement, but received no response by the time of publication. 

A man raises a victory sign in Raqqa city’s central Clocktower Square, 13/12/2024 (Abdulmajid Ismail/Syria Direct)

Rejecting separation

As talk about the future of a post-Assad Syria swirls, Raqqa residents worry about the scenario of their city being “separated” from the rest of the country under an autonomous government that many feel does not represent them. 

They point to the AANES’ approach being derived from the philosophy of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed founder and leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey, as well as the influence PKK cadres hold within the administration in Syria. 

These fears are bolstered by “a transformation in the general mood of the AANES and its security and military forces since the fall of the Assad regime,” read as “moving away from the idea of joining with Damascus, and implicitly furthering [the narrative of] a war targeting Kurds,” activist Bilal said. 

As the SDF relies on its own military capabilities, as well as US-led international coalition support, Raqqa residents “fear an outbreak of war in their already destroyed city,” he added. Indications on the ground indicate “the SDF will not lay down their weapons to participate in a unified Syrian army,” he said. 

Raqqa resident Luqman Mahmoud (a pseudonym) also worries about an “uncertain future” as “rumors and military skirmishes spread and Damascus ignores the city,” he told Syria Direct. 

Since Assad fell, “we have heard gunfire and explosions more often,” Mahmoud said. He believes “the violence is deliberate, whether by the SDF or some residents who are trying to send a message that its presence is not wanted.” Many in the city “want Damascus’ forces to enter,” he added, referring to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led Military Operations Department led by Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Jolani). 

An official at one civil society organization in Raqqa, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted “there is a large media mobilization against the SDF, by residents and activists opposed to it in Raqqa.” This has “fueled the public rhetoric against the SDF, pushing some to carry out offensive actions against institutions, such as burning the military court and attacking the [Asayish] center,” he added. 

What happens when night falls is particularly suspect, as “armed groups in cars without license plates deploy,” the civil society official added. “It isn’t known if they are gunmen who infiltrated from the Aleppo countryside among convoys of displaced people, Shiite militias, loyal to the regime, carrying out sabotage,” or “the SDF-linked Revolutionary Youth,” he said. “The gunmen shoot at anyone in the street during curfew.” 

After years “living between the hammer of the regime and IS, which was the reason for the SDF’s existence, we face a historic turning point that will determine the shape of the new Syrian state,” the source added. Raqqans reject any form of “separatism or sectarian, ethnic or regional division,” he added. “Our thinking goes beyond the SDF’s ambitions.” 

He called on the SDF to “undergo a radical change that meets the aspirations of Raqqa’s people, and open a direct dialogue with Damascus without delay,” alongside releasing detainees and “improving official rhetoric so it is accompanied by actions, not just words.” 

The ‘IS card’

Recent statements by the coalition and SDF leadership highlighted fears of an IS resurgence. When Assad fell, US forces boosted their presence in Raqqa city, intensifying their movements in the 17th Division headquarters north of the city and the US base located near the al-Rashid Bridge (New Raqqa Bridge). 

Suleiman Abdulaziz (a pseudonym), a civilian AANES official in Raqqa city, said US movements aim at preserving its interests, while “the fate of Raqqa, and its security, depends on the awareness of its people and the current authority in Damascus.” 

Any escalation could lead to a war “in the city, as happened years ago,” he told Syria Direct, referring to the fight against IS, which took Raqqa as the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate. 

Abdulaziz, who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to make statements to the media, worries that IS could “reemerge in the city, or reorganize its ranks.” The area “includes prisons with thousands of IS detainees, who are considered some of the most dangerous figures in the world,” he added. 

The AANES official stressed the importance of “reaching a political solution that ensures Raqqa is under Damascus” and rejecting “any form of autonomy advocated by PKK-affiliated officials and fighters.” 

For activist Mahmoud, the threat of IS is less apparent. “Why did IS appear now, with the SDF warning about its cells, while it has not been present for years,” he questioned. “IS pops up whenever Raqqa’s people demand anything.” 

This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.