BEIRUT -- U.S.-backed Syrian forces were removing land mines and clearing roads in the northern city of Raqqa on Wednesday, a day after commanders said they had driven the Islamic State militant group from its self-declared capital.
Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said preparations were underway for a formal declaration of the city's liberation.
The Syrian Democratic Forces said Tuesday that military operations in Raqqa have ended and that troops have taken full control of the city. The U.S.-led coalition cautioned that the clearing operations would continue, saying about 100 militants may still be hiding in the city.
On Wednesday, the spokesman for the coalition, Col. Ryan Dillon, tweeted that 95 percent of the city was under full control as clearing operations continued.
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The coalition said the Syrian Democratic Forces has been successful in holding on to captured territory because of its thorough clearing procedures, which prevent counterattacks.
Brett McGurk, the top U.S. envoy for the coalition, said he was in northern Syria to prepare for the defeat of the militants. He said the United States will help in clearing explosives as well as restoring services in the city.
McGurk posted a photograph Wednesday of surrendering Islamic State militants, saying, "Once purported as fierce, now pathetic and a lost cause." He said the Islamic State lost nearly 6,000 militants in Raqqa before surrendering in large numbers.
The White House said the liberation of the Islamic State stronghold will open a new phase in the Syrian conflict. Spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed the Syrian government for hindering previous efforts to free Raqqa.
Aid and charity organizations have warned of the high cost borne by civilians.
In the neighboring Deir el-Zour province, where the Syrian Democratic Forces and Russian-backed Syrian troops are waging separate offensives against the militants, nearly 500,000 civilians remain trapped by the fighting, the International Rescue Committee said late Tuesday.
And the U.N.'s refugee agency said that in the past few days, about 40,000 Raqqa residents have arrived in already crowded displacement camps in the province. The agency also warned of the danger of land mines and unexploded ordnance.
The fall of Raqqa marks a major defeat for the extremist group, which has seen its self-styled Islamic caliphate steadily shrink since the summer. The Islamic State took over Raqqa, which sits along the Euphrates River, in 2014 and transformed it into the epicenter of its brutal rule.
The group still holds territory to the south of Raqqa and in Deir el-Zour, as well as smaller pockets elsewhere in Syria and Iraq.
On Wednesday, fierce clashes were reported between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants in the group's last strip of land in Hassakeh province, to the east of Raqqa. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, also reported intense clashes between Islamic State militants and forces allied with the Syrian government.
A media outlet affiliated with the Syrian military said a senior commander who led the fight against the Islamic State in Deir el-Zour was killed Wednesday in operations against the group.
The Central Military Media described Brig. Gen. Issam Zahreddine, 56, as one of the most important field commanders in the Syrian army, saying he was instrumental in breaking earlier this year a nearly three-year Islamic State siege on the city of Deir el-Zour. The Lebanese Al-Manar TV, which is close to the Syrian government, said a land mine killed him.
Zahreddine maintained a government presence in Deir el-Zour despite the prolonged siege on his forces. The siege was breached in September in a Russian-backed offensive, and the government and allied troops have since retaken most of the city.
Zahreddine also led government offensives against armed opposition in central Homs province and near the capital, Damascus, in the earlier days of the Syrian conflict.
In comments widely played after Deir el-Zour's siege was breached, Zahreddine warned those who fled the country not to return because the army "will never forget or forgive." He later apologized on state TV.
A Section on 10/19/2017