Middle East
"Remember that Rakka is larger than Kobanî"
It is an honor which the inhabitants of Rakka would gladly passed. This city without charm lisi era of Badiya, the great Syrian Desert is in the viewfinder of arm ed the most powerful of the planet. For two months, Russian planes bombed the American and French in turn, hoping to dislodge fighters of the organization Islamic state (EI), who made their headquarters.
Rakka and its 250,000 inhabitants live under glass, isolated from the rest of Syria. The masters of the town have erected impassable dams to all its outputs.They cut the telephone and Internet networks and confiscated satellite dishes that exceeded roofs. Only cybercafés located on Central Avenue continue to operate. They are frequented by foreign jihadist organization recruits, who come to communicate with their family.
" Propaganda "
"Daech [Arabic acronym for EI] destroyed the small cabins that allowed surf safe from prying eyes, says Mohamed, 22, a student of Rakka, who lives in exile in Gaziantep in southern Turkey, but keeps in touch with his relatives left behind. These places are full of spies and police force IE to be made regular runs. "
If information somehow manage from within, it is because a handful of people have managed to hide at home Internet transmission satellite system. Aiham Al-Khalaf, former correspondent at Rakka an Arab television, also in exile abroad, talks every day with these daredevil who provide, when they can, a balance sheet bombing .
"The international community has decided to destroy Daech exclaims the journalist Aiham Al-Khalaf. People are terrified. As Daech sealed off the town and that strikes are increasing day by day, they can die at any time. "
According to sources inside the city, the first French post-Paris air raid attacks, Sunday, November 15, killed twelve jihadists, including four Asians, whose bodies were seen at the hospital.
Twelve Rafale and Mirage tricolor stationed in the UAE and Jordan have received since the date reinforcing other 26 fighter-bombers, on board the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which crosses off Syria. These units conducted their first mission, Monday, November 23, hitting targets of EI in Ramadi and Mosul, in Iraq.
"BEING BOMBED FROM THE SKY, TO BE ALONE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT DAECH RESEARCH," SAID MOHAMED, A STUDENT RAKKA
For now, the French fire on Rakka There were no civilian casualties. The EI has himself acknowledged, in a video Sunday webcast. It shows a French jihadist the hooded face, in the rubble of what he presented as a drugs warehouse, bombarded by France. "Your government you ment" proclaims the man in military fatigues, with reference to releases the Ministry of Defence, claiming that the sites attacked Rakka exclusively military. "This will cost you dearly," the fighter threat. "This is propaganda, objected Hazem Hussein, a journalist of the Syrian Radio Smart, based in Gaziantep. This building housed the families of IE and it was empty.The French strikes are very accurate and they push the IU to the breaking point."
Russian aviation, which provides targets with the Assad regime, has fewer scruples. His latest raids demolished two bridges, shaved part of the largest hospital in the city and killed many civilians. Wednesday, November 18, the day the French aircraft conducted no exit, six persons engaged in selling gasoline were killed in a huge explosion. On 13 November, a Russian bomb had struck 13 inhabitants of an alley, Hara Al-Hassoun. "Daech dispersed his fighters in residential areas and uses civilians as human shields," says Aiham Al-Khalaf.
Under these conditions, the Franco-Russian blitz he has a chance to flex the EI?Most Syrians in doubt. Since their takeover of Rakka, in May 2014, the followers of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had ample time to prepare for this showdown. "When the Russians attacked Idlib province, in early military intervention in Syria, in October, they have destroyed in one hit a large part of the arsenal of Jaish Al-Fatah [a rebel coalition, dominant Islamist], reports Al-Bassel Junaidy, the director of a center Studies, based in Gaziantep. It was a disaster for its members. With IE, the Russian has no chance to repeat a shot of such brilliance. His weapons are buried in tunnels. "
Pessimism
Mohamed, the young economics student in exile in Turkey, share this pessimism. "Being bombed from the sky, be alone with the rest of the world, that's exactly what Daech research. This allows it to present as a protector. The more deaths in the population, the more it will be tempted to support Daech.This is not how Rakka will be released. The only solution is to support the ArmyFree Syrian [ASL, the moderate wing of the insurgency]. "
His closest elements are positioned at about thirty kilometers north of the city.They belong to the revolutionaries Rakka Brigade, a group allied with Kurdish paramilitary YPG (People's Protection Units), the dominant force in the region.Its leader, Abu Eissa, claims from two weeks ago his intention to go to reconquer his native city. In anticipation of the assault, he woos Arab tribes in the region, remained far away from the fighting. The maneuver is not only intended to increase the firepower of his brigade. It also aims to increase the proportion of Arabs in the joint force, it will have to train with the Kurds of YPG, if he wants to match for IE. "We are ready, ensures advise policy of the brigade, who prefers to remain anonymous. What remains to be negotiated, it is the influence of the Kurds and air support from the United States. "
These two points mean that the hour of liberation is not about sound. The heads of YPG are hardly eager to launch their troops to the assault of a city almost exclusively Arab, whose inhabitants would see a very dim view of the influx of Kurdish troops.
The people of Tal Abyad know that at Rakka, a city further north, recovery in early summer by the Kurds to EI, the militia of YPG have forcibly displaced from Arab and Turkmen populations. "Among Kurds and Daech, Rakka people still prefer Daech says Bassel Al-Junaidy. And do not forget that Rakka is much larger and more populous than Kobanî. "The reconquest of this city with a Kurdish majority in January, had required four months of fierce fighting and hundreds of US bombing.
Benjamin Barthe (Gaziantep (Turkey), Special Envoy)
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