Bittersweet video images of Syrian women removing their burqas and burning them after being liberated from Isis in Raqqa have been released by Kurdish forces.

The short film shows tearful wives, mothers and daughters removing religious garments and setting fire to them in a displaced persons camp north of the city, where Isis is under severe pressure.

The woman were joyous to finally be free from the tyranny of the so-called caliphate, which is hanging on in Raqqa – it's last major stronghold.

"Give me a lighter, I'm going to burn this," said one of them, removing her burqa. "May these clothes they forced us to wear be damned."

With a group of fellow escapees, she set her black robe alight while children watched and clapped.

But the scenes were not only celebratory. Many of the women had heartbreaking stories to tell about loved one's lost under the terrible grip of the blood thirsty army that has terrorised swathes of Syria and northern Iraq.

"Burn these. May Allah burn them [Isis]," said another as she added her burqa to the pile. "They burned my father. They burned my father. I wish he was with us now in this happy time. May Allah put fire to their hearts"

Another said: "They killed my husband. They fired a mortar at my house. My husband was outside, he was hit and died."

"They killed my son because he wouldn't pray. They didn't allow us to take his body for a whole week," said yet another weeping woman.

The US-backed Syrian Defence Force, which is dominated by the Kurdish People's Army, is slowly degrading Isis's hold on Raqqa but the fight is proving to be more drawn-out than many had hoped.

YPG Press Office Twitter/Defenseunits

The 2,000 remaining Isis militants are putting up stiff resistance, according to U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, who spoke to the Associated Press.

"We know that it is not going to be an overnight success but the coalition and the SDF will continue to push forward and will be victorious," he said.

Meanwhile at the camp, it wasn't just the women who had rediscovered personal freedoms. Many of the men, were also enjoying a shave for the first time in years.

"Cut it off," one man told the barber. "Cut it all off just to spite them [Isis]"