DAMASCUS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement Friday that the northern province of Raqqa, which has been captured recently from the Islamic State (IS), will be part of a "federal Syria."
"Raqqa and its countryside will be a part of a democratic, decentralized and federal Syria, where the people of the province will run their own affairs," the SDF said in a statement.
It stressed the future of Raqqa will be determined by "its people in the framework of a democratic, decentralized and federal Syria."
The SDF said it will hand over the control of Raqqa to the "Civil Council of Raqqa," which has been formed by the SDF last April with a joint Kurdish-Arab leadership to rule the province following its liberation.
As for the security part, the "internal security forces" will be tasked with securing the lives of the civilians in Raqqa.
The SDF, meanwhile, pledged to protect the borders of the province from all "external threats."
The group, which is an alliance of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians among other components led by the Kurdish YPG and backed by the U.S., said it had secured the evacuation of 450,000 civilians from Raqqa during the four-month-long battles against IS, in which they lost over 600 fighters.
It expressed gratitude to the U.S.-led coalition, which has been backing them during the months-long battles to capture Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS.
Meanwhile, the group urged the international organizations to help rebuild Raqqa, 80 percent of which is destroyed, according to a recent report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"The liberation of Raqqa constitutes the last chapter of the epic of confrontation and the fight against Daesh in Syria," the statement read, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
The Syrian government, whose forces are also fighting IS separately, sp far has no comment on the statement, but previous remarks suggested the government want to restore all of Syrian areas under its control.
