DAMASCUS, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Raqqa, where the Islamic State (IS) has recently been defeated, is still occupied by the US.-led coalition and its allied fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In a statement, the ministry said the city of Raqqa is still an occupied city and it could never be considered liberated unless the Syrian army enters it.
The ministry charged that the U.S and the SDF, which was the ground force to drive IS out of its de facto capital, were conspiring with IS to enter the city and have IS militants go to other Syrian areas to fight the Syrian army.
Meanwhile, the ministry said the U.S. and its allies are celebrating "what they called as the liberation of Raqqa on the bodies of the killed civilians" in the city. It added that 90 percent of the city is in ruins.
"The calls by the U.S. and its allies to rebuild Raqqa are nothing but a fraud and a scam on the public opinion with the aim of covering the destruction they have caused in Raqqa," the ministry said in its statement.
On Oct. 17, the SDF said it liberated Raqqa after four months of battles against the IS militants. IS declared Raqqa as its de facto capital in 2014, after announcing their self-styled caliphate in Syria.
