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| US-trained police describe who volition endeavor to restore lodge to the ruins of Raqqah. |
The Battle of Raqqah, which started dorsum inwards May, has lastly ended later on nigh 5 months of street fighting, amongst an understanding betwixt the ii sides, namely ISIS together with the US-trained Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The understanding volition encounter the remaining ISIS forces together with their families bussed out of Raqqah to ISIS-held territory farther East, a relatively mutual physical care for inwards the Syrian Civil War. The SDF has forthwith taken command of the quondam upper-case alphabetic lineament metropolis of the fast-shrinking ISIS "Caliphate." Much of the metropolis has been reduced to rubble yesteryear United States of America bombing inwards the nigh five-month long struggle, inwards which hundreds together with perhaps thousands died.
The armistice comes at an interesting time, every bit Kurdish forces are increasingly feeling threatened yesteryear other groups fighting against ISIS, namely the increasingly powerful, Russian-backed Shiite coalition of Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, together with the Syrian government, which is dominated yesteryear Shiite Alawites similar President Assad.
Tensions are peculiarly high inwards neighbouring Iraq, where a large bag of ISIS territory to the East of the Tigris River was late eradicated yesteryear Shiite Iraqi forces. This enabled the Iraqis to deed much closer to the largest Kurdish-held metropolis of Kirkuk. This city, some of import crude oil fields, is contested yesteryear the Kurds together with the Arabs, who believe it is Arab territory due to Arabs existence the largest ethnic grouping -- even though the Arabs inwards Kirkuk are mainly Sunnis.
The armistice comes at an interesting time, every bit Kurdish forces are increasingly feeling threatened yesteryear other groups fighting against ISIS, namely the increasingly powerful, Russian-backed Shiite coalition of Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, together with the Syrian government, which is dominated yesteryear Shiite Alawites similar President Assad.
Tensions are peculiarly high inwards neighbouring Iraq, where a large bag of ISIS territory to the East of the Tigris River was late eradicated yesteryear Shiite Iraqi forces. This enabled the Iraqis to deed much closer to the largest Kurdish-held metropolis of Kirkuk. This city, some of import crude oil fields, is contested yesteryear the Kurds together with the Arabs, who believe it is Arab territory due to Arabs existence the largest ethnic grouping -- even though the Arabs inwards Kirkuk are mainly Sunnis.
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| Oil reserves together with Kurdish control. |
Kurds shout for to a yesteryear of Arabisation, amongst Kurds forcibly removed from the oil-rich city, together with Arabs moved in, together with amongst non-Arabs forced to induce got on Arab identities. Matters are farther complicated yesteryear the crude oil resources at stake, amongst Exxon deeply involved inwards Kurdistan together with its politics.
This way that the Kurds are unlikely to concord to Arab demands without something inwards return. This province of affairs is leading to growing tensions betwixt Kurds together with the Iraqi government, who are besides backed upwards yesteryear other countries reluctant to encounter continued Kurdish independence, similar Turkey together with Iran.
If nation of war breaks out betwixt Republic of Iraq together with the Kurds, the Kurds could discovery themselves thrown into an unlikely alliance amongst ISIS, which represents mainly Sunni Arabs.
This would crusade headaches for the Trump administration, which is forthwith trying to induce got a harder-line position inwards the Middle East, but has few useful allies inwards the share beside the Kurds.
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| A Kurdish fighter admires the handiwork of the United States of America air force. |