US-backed Syrian forces are removing land mines and clearing roads in the northern city of Raqqa, a day after commanders said they had driven the Islamic State group from its de facto capital.
Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, says preparations are underway for a formal declaration of the city's liberation.
The SDF said on Tuesday that military operations in Raqqa have ended and that their troops have taken full control of the city. The US-led coalition cautioned that the clearing operations would continue, saying some 100 militants may still be hiding in the city.
On Wednesday, the spokesman for the coalition, Colonel Ryan Dillon, tweeted that 95 per cent of the city is now under full control as clearing operations continue.
Brett McGurk, the top US envoy for the coalition, said he was in northern Syria to prepare for the defeat of the militants. He said the US will help in clearing explosives as well as restoring services in the city.
McGurk posted a photograph of surrendering IS militants, saying: "Once purported as fierce, now pathetic and a lost cause."
He said IS lost nearly 6000 militants in Raqqa before surrendering in large numbers.
Aid and charity organisations have warned of the high cost borne by civilians.
In the neighbouring Deir el-Zour province, where the SDF and Russian-backed Syrian troops are waging separate offensives against the militants, nearly half a million civilians remain trapped by the fighting, the International Rescue Committee said.
The UN refugee agency said that in the last few days, around 40,000 Raqqa residents arrived in already overcrowded displacement camps.
The fall of Raqqa marks a major defeat for the extremist group.
IS took over Raqqa, located on the Euphrates River, in 2014 and transformed it into the epicentre of its brutal rule.
