There is a “distinctly unnerving” silence in the centre of the recently-liberated city of Raqqa, according to Sky’s Stuart Ramsay. He was the first British broadcast journalist to enter the Syrian city since Islamic State’s reign of terror was brought to an end.
In his latest report, Ramsay speaks to Syrian commanders who say there is a cordon around Raqqa while they deal with any new “problems” caused by the militants:
We had got used to Raqqa’s streets being devoid of all people bar the military, but after a drive into the centre and a few minutes filming aerial drone shots of the devastation inside this once thriving and modern city, with astonishment we noticed the soldiers had disappeared; we were alone.
It was distinctly unnerving.
The damage here is so enormous it shocks every time. It’s not that a huge number of buildings over 14 square miles have been damaged, rather it’s that every building has been destroyed.
That damage explains a military decision.
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Source: Sky News.