Raqqa again under the threat of Daesh?

In recent weeks, patrols have been reinforced in Raqqa (Syria), as the threat is becoming more pressing. The flag of the Islamic State group has not flown over their former capital for more than five years, and yet. “We don’t know where it may come from, but the threat of Daesh is permanent. We try to go out to all places in the city. We are very mobile”says Ahmed Chalabiye, a member of the Arab-Kurdish Internal Security force, which now controls the city.

A constant fear

But the show of force, sometimes, is not enough. On December 26, 2022, Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack on the headquarters of the city’s security forces. The attack killed eight people, including the two terrorists. According to a soldier present that day, this is the main attack since the fall of the city in October 2017. He sees it as a sign of their growing power.

A constant fear has settled over the city, facing an enemy most of the time invisible. A merchant, one of the most successful in Raqqa, received a threatening message on his phone, signed by Daesh, asking him “$100,000” within three days. Another was recently killed. And on the souk, no one dares to talk about the Islamic State group anymore, neither for good nor for bad.