Inside a formerly ISIS-occupied building in the western suburbs of Raqqa, Syria Drugs found inside possibly shed light on the level of pressure militants faced.

US-backed fighters said Tuesday that major military operations in Raqqa are over, marking a significant moment for the war on ISIS – and in some ways, its end.

Nonetheless, the fall of Raqqa is a development that will likely have long-term consequences for the political organization of eastern Syria.

For nearly four years, the Islamic State terrorized the residents of Raqqa. But the US-led coalition airstrikes destroyed the city.

Thousands of people fled from the area amid the dramatic escalation in the civil war, which had simmered without major advances by either side for years.

The Syrian city of Raqqa is blanketed in despair. Residents survive in a wasteland of war-warped buildings and shattered concrete. They sleep exposed to the elements in homes with blown-out walls.

The Syrian city of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of Islamic State, is now free of the extremist group, but many residents are leaving anyway.

On Dec. 8, Syrian rebels entered Damascus, ending the Assad family’s 54-year rule and ostensibly the first phase of the Syrian Civil War. Beginning in the Spring of 2011 after a violent ...

Despite Raqqa’s proximity to the Euphrates, many people here say that its waters were diverted to reach well-connected landowners in other areas to the west, closer to Aleppo.

Just over a year ago, ISIS was pushed out of the Syrian city of Raqqa. Now residents are trying to recover from a brutal military campaign which included house to house fighting and U.S. bombs.

For the Syrian army, it provides a base from which to launch strikes against key ISIS targets in nearby Raqqa city – part of a promise made my President Bashar al-Assad to take it back from the ...