IS militants blew themselves up in Syria's Raqqa
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian forces and a war monitor say Islamic State militants have blown themselves up in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which liberated from the extremists nearly two years ago.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday the militants clashed with the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and local security forces before blowing themselves up the night before.
SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali confirmed the report, saying that four IS members blew themselves up.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Raqqa, which the militants declared their de-facto capital, was liberated in October 2017, dealing a major blow to the group. The SDF and the U.S.-led coalition went on to fight the militants in rest of Syria, declaring military victory against IS last month. But Syria and Iraq are infested with sleeper cells.