ISIS "holds its general meetings in hospitals and mosques" as it knows that the coalition and Russia do not target them to avoid killing civilians, he said.Both Moscow and Washington announced this month their determination to increase air strikes on oil infrastructure in ISIS-controlled areas of Syria."When a warplane enters Raqa's air space, the sirens ring out to warn (ISIS) members," said the activist from the "Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" campaign group. "Some of them have been seen to leave their vehicles in the middle of the road" to hide.ISIS also forbids anyone leaving Raqa to areas not under its control without a "previous permission", Hashimi said."The sirens are on the roofs of high buildings, in the squares and in the streets," Taym Ramadan, a city resident and anti-ISIS activist, told AFP.A US-led coalition and Russia have stepped up air strikes on the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital since ISIS claimed to have downed a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai in October and the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris two weeks later.
Researcher and writer Hisham al-Hashimi said that the group's latest measures included "moving its stores to residential areas and abandoning its training camps", as well as "depending on tunnels to hold its meetings".Since taking Raqa, the jihadist group has spread fear among inhabitants with its brutal executions and punishment of anyone who opposes it and its rulings.On November 15, French fighter jets targeted weapon caches and a training camp on the southern and western outskirts of the city, China Wholesale Parallel Screw Barrel according to the French army.According to Abu Sham, "The group has moved all its control posts that used to be on the city outskirts to heavily populated residential areas" after some of these were targeted.Activists agreed that "the religious police has lessened their activity", which has allowed residents to enjoy "time-out" to breathe a little."The group has resorted to tunnels -- some previously used and others now being dug out inside the city," Ramadan said.