Kremlin: Coalition trying to turn Raqqa into center of Syria not controlled by Assad
First deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on defense and security Frants Klintsevich believes that by allocating funds to humanitarian aid for the population of Raqqa, the US-led coalition is trying to create a new center of Syria which is not controlled by its president Bashar al-Assad. The senator expressed such an opinion to reporters on Sunday.
According to him, the urgent allocation of millions of dollars and euros to Raqqa is another example of the US-led coalition’s double standards in Syria, and example of their division into “ours” and “theirs”.
“It’s clear that there’s an obvious political rationale behind this. And it’s not only the allies’ desire to cover up the consequences of their aircraft’s barbaric bombings. As I see it, these are, first and foremost, separatist attempts to turn Raqqa into the center of another Syria – a Syria not controlled by Bashar al-Assad. These are the objectives the money is allocated towards, and the restoration of peaceful life in the city is only a plausible pretext,” Klintsevich said.
It was reported earlier that Great Britain had allocated £10 million ($13.2 million) to humanitarian aid for the civilian population of the Syrian city of Raqqa, which has been liberated from Islamic State militants. The assault on Raqqa began on June 6. The terrorists were surrounded in the central part of the city on September 21, but resisted fiercely. The civilian population had mostly abandoned Raqqa before the concluding phase of the operation.
On October 20 at a press conference in Raqqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces coalition officially declared that the city had been liberated from militants.