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US-Led Coalition 'Deliberately' Destroyed 90 Percent of Raqqa - Syria's UN Envoy

© AFP 2023 / DELIL SOULEIMANA fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces, inspects a military vehicle supplied by the US-led coalition, as they gather near a village north-east of Raqa
A fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces, inspects a military vehicle supplied by the US-led coalition, as they gather near a village north-east of Raqa - Sputnik International
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US-led Coalition to defeat the Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia) has intentionally destroyed 90 percent of Syria’s town of Raqqa, Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

"This coalition has deliberately destroyed 90 percent of the city of Raqqa," Jaafari said. "This coalition has not felt to uphold its commitment to neutralize the mines left behind by Daesh."

The statement follows the February 12 press release by the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, saying that landmines planted by the Daesh terrorist group in the Syrian city of Raqqa have killed or wounded hundreds of civilians, including more than 150 children.

READ MORE: Daesh Landmines Injured Almost 500 People, Many of Them Died - Rights Group

The actual number of victims is surely higher, as many people died before reaching medical assistance and those deaths were not necessarily reported, the release said.

As the release defined, Daesh planted scores of antipersonnel mines in Raqqa before US-led forces liberated the city in October 2017, including mines, booby traps or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and most appeared to be victim-activated and therefore banned under international law.

In October, a spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, the US military's operational name for the intervention against Daesh, reported that hundreds of suspected Daesh members and their families were allowed to flee Raqqa in convoys arranged by US-backed forces. According to Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh Brett McGurk, the terrorists placed explosive devices in almost every single building the city's downtown.

READ MORE: US-Backed SDF Troops' VIDEO Shows Daesh Being Allowed to Leave Raqqa

The terror seized Raqqa in 2013 and declared the city to be the capital of their self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria the following year. In December 2017, Syrian Democratic Forces, with the support of the US-led international coalition, began operations to retake Raqqa, which the SDF said was liberated in October.

© SputnikResults of Russian Air Campaign and US-led Coalition Intervention in Syria
Results of Russian Air Campaign and US-led Coalition Intervention in Syria - Sputnik International
Results of Russian Air Campaign and US-led Coalition Intervention in Syria

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