RAQQA CIVILIANS ON THE LINE

by Annie Slemrod, IRIN

JERUSALEM — The northeast Syrian city of Raqqa is a crucial power centre for the so-called Islamic State, important enough that many call it the group's "capital" and France chose to bomb it repeatedly as its rejoinder to the Paris attacks. Speaking Nov. 16, the day after French warplanes struck the city, President François Hollande promised to step up the military campaign against IS and "destroy" the group.

No civilians were reported killed in the overnight strikes but plenty remain in the area. How are they getting by? Precious little information makes it out of IS territory, but this is what we could establish…

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