A member of the Syrian Arab-Kurdish forces places a cross in the rubble ahead of a Christmas celebration at the heavily-damaged Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs in the city centre of the eastern Syrian city of Raqa on December 26, 2017 following a mine clarence operation at the site a few days earlier.
A US-backed offensive ousted the Islamic State group from Raqa in October but the city has been left ravaged by fighting, and only a small percentage of its pre-war population has returned as the year draws to a close. / AFP PHOTO / Delil souleiman
+© Delil Souleiman - AFP