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Children pose for a photo in the town of Dibsi Afnan in the countryside of Raqqa province, Syria, on Dec. 23, 2017. Dibsi Afnan and all of the southwestern countryside of Raqqa are under the Syrian army forces, while the capital city of Raqqa is under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Both the army and the SDF were fighting IS in Raqqa, but separately, and 2017 marked the defeat of IS in its major strongholds such as in Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir al-Zour. The control over the province seems to be politically agreed upon by the army and the SDF, at least for now. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)
