A traffic roundabout in the city of Raqqa, Syria. Photo / AP
A traffic roundabout in the city of Raqqa, Syria. Photo / AP
Drone footage from the northern Syrian city of Raqqa shows the extent of devastation caused by weeks of fighting between Kurdish-led forces and the Islamic State group.
Footage from Thursday (US time) shows the bombed-out shells of buildings and heaps of concrete slabs lay piled on streets littered with destroyedcars.
Entire neighbourhoods are seen turned to rubble, with little sign of civilian life.
Frame grab made from drone video shows damaged buildings in Raqqa, Syria two days after Syrian Democratic Forces said that military operations to oust the Islamic State were successful. Photo / AP
The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced they have driven Islamic State group militants out of the city after weeks of fighting.
The spokesman for the coalition, Colonel Ryan Dillon, tweeted that the SDF has cleared 98 per cent of the city, adding that some militants remain holed up in a small pocket east of the city's athletic stadium.
CIA director Mike Pompeo said IS militants still pose a threat to the US even after being evicted from Raqqa.
Pompeo said IS is capable of orchestrating and carrying out an attack, possibly downing a commercial plane.
"IS' capability to conduct an external operation remains," he said.
A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defuses a bomb left by Islamic State militants at the stadium that was the site of IS fighters' last stand in the city of Raqqa. Photo / AP
A U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces sniper, lies on the ground as he checks his sniper rifles, on the front line, in Raqqa. Photo / AP
The Islamic State group in Raqqa. Photo / AP
This frame grab shows fighters from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces celebrating. Photo / AP
"But I wouldn't put them in a singular bucket. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has for a long time had this mission statement, which includes the taking down of a commercial airliner bound for a western country. Certainly, among those would be the United States."
