Hundreds of civilians have returned to a battered district of Syria's al-Raqa in what the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said was the first wave of returns since it cleared explosives left by extremists, AFP reported Monday (November 6th).

The "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) lost control of al-Raqa on October 20th after a months-long battle with the SDF.

Tens of thousands of people fled the city during the offensive, reducing al-Raqa to a ghost town of collapsed buildings.

The SDF said in an online statement on Sunday that hundreds of families had returned to al-Meshleb, al-Raqa's easternmost district.

"The SDF informed civilians from al-Meshleb that they could return to their homes after mine-removal teams had finished clearing the entire neighbourhood of explosives left indiscriminately in civilian homes by ISIS," the force's press centre said.

It said the district was the first to which residents had returned since the city's "liberation from ISIS".

After capturing al-Raqa, the SDF sealed off the city to allow for mine removal operations in bombed-out neighbourhoods.

Residents often amassed at checkpoints in recent weeks, waiting for permission to access the city and see if their homes were still standing.

Some civilians who sneaked in were killed by unexploded ordnance.

Mine-clearing and reconstruction operations in al-Raqa are being co-ordinated by the al-Raqa Civil Council, a provisional local government body appointed by the SDF but based outside the city.

"Yes, residents of al-Meshleb returned to their homes -- but the whole city has not been cleared of mines yet," senior council member Omar Alloush said.

The deputy head of the council's reconstruction committee, Nazmi Mohammad, said the body had dispatched 10 bulldozers to al-Raqa to help clear rubble and blocked-off roads in al-Meshleb.