SDF-backed civil council slated to get control of Raqqa

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which took over Raqqa from Daesh prepared on Thursday to hand the Syrian city over to a civilian council constituted by the US-backed group, with some of its militants already headed to the next battle.

The SDF battled for more than four months, with US-led coalition support, to capture the city that was once the de facto Syrian capital of Daesh's self-styled "caliphate".

"Some of the [SDF] forces withdrew, others will remain in the city until we finish the minor combing operations, then the city will be handed over to the civil council," said SDF commander Rojda Felat.

"After the end of military operations, a large part of the forces have moved out of Raqqa to other areas, including Deir Ezzor," added Mustefa Bali, spokesman for the YPG, the main component of the SDF.

YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, which is considered to be a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, the EU and NATO countries. 

The US support for the YPG has led to tensions growing between Ankara and Washington.

Raqqa Civil Council

Raqqa's capture leaves Daesh with little remaining territory in Syria, most of it in neighbouring Deir Ezzor province, where some SDF militants were already headed to continue the campaign.

Responsibility for Raqqa, which lies in ruins and empty of civilians, will be assumed by the Raqqa Civil Council, a body of local officials formed six months ago.

The official handover is expected to come as early as on Friday.

The Council will inherit responsibility for a ghost town that lacks basic services and infrastructure.

Collapse of 'Caliphate'

Daesh captured mostly Sunni Arab Raqqa in 2014.

In Syria, the militant group is now confined largely to Deir Ezzor province, where they are under attack by both the SDF and Russian-backed Bashar al Assad regime forces.

In neighbouring Iraq, Daesh holds only a small stretch of the Euphrates valley adjoining the Syrian border, a far cry from their peak in 2014, when their "caliphate" was approximately the size of Britain.