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Article snippet: It was never just a traffic circle. Not before Syria fell into civil war and the Islamic State moved into Raqqa, when there was lush grass and a fountain at its center, and children splashed in the heat of the summer and visited the Cafe al-Naem ice cream shop. And not after, when it became a symbol of the battle for Raqqa, and, the militants decided, an ideal spot for public executions. The traffic circle is known as Naem — Arabic for “paradise.” When a summer heat wave hit Raqqa, nestled on the banks of the Euphrates River, children jumped into the fountain at the center of the Naem traffic circle to get some relief. The fountain, installed just three years earlier, had a colorful light display and a speaker that played music on holidays. At the time, several rebel groups, including a number of Islamist brigades, had already wrested the city from government control. But Raqqa was still largely intact and full of residents. The Islamic State, though, was quickly gaining power. By the fall of 2013, it controlled most of Raqqa. By early the next year, the group, also known as ISIS, had solidified its grasp on the city, and began imposing its strict form of Islam on all the residents. In the summer of 2014, the Islamic State went on an offensive, seizing territory across large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq, and declaring its own caliphate. At the center of its newly formed pseudo-state was Raqqa, and at the center of that capital, the Naem roundabout. The mil... Link to the full article to read more