Located 50 km from Raqqa, the former capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate, the location of this castle on the banks of the Euphrates was strategic.
The terrorist group used it to launch attacks and train child soldiers.
Today Syrian tourists are rediscovering their citadel.
"I had not visited the citadel for almost 10 years because of the war and the problems we were facing," says Abdallah, who came from Raqqa in Syria with his entire family.
Five years ago, this image of this father, surrounded by his smiling children, responding to journalists in Jaabar would have been completely unthinkable.
“My daughter kept telling me, 'Take us to Jaabar' because she heard about it at school.
So we came here!
“says Radwan.
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The Islamic State, a politico-military terrorist organization of Salafist jihadist ideology, proclaimed its caliphate in 2014, in Syria and Iraq, spreading terror wherever it had control.
It was defeated in 2019 by an international coalition led by the United States.
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, died during an operation carried out by American special forces in Baricha, Syria on October 27, 2019.
The terrorist organization has been accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
