IS Abducts 2,000 Civilians during Retreat from Syria's Manbij
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Islamic State group fighters seized around 2,000 civilians to use as "human shields" Friday as they fled their stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria, U.S.-backed forces and a monitor said.
The Arab-Kurdish alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) expelled most of the IS fighters from the town last week, but a small number remained.
"While withdrawing from a district of Manbij, Daesh (IS) jihadists abducted around 2,000 civilians from al-Sirb neighborhood," said Sherfan Darwish, spokesman for the Manbij Military Council, a key component of the SDF.
"They used these civilians as human shields as they withdrew to Jarabulus, thus preventing us from targeting them," he added.
Al-Sirb is a district in northern Manbij on the way to the IS-held border town of Jarabulus in Aleppo province near the border with Turkey.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on sources on the ground to cover the conflict, also reported that IS had abducted around 2,000 civilians as they fled Manbij.
It said the civilians were placed in hundreds of cars that then headed for Jarabulus.
Darwish said the civilians who were taken were residents of al-Sirb and other districts, including a central neighborhood known as the "security quarter" in the center of Manbij.
It was not immediately clear how many jihadists fled from the town, but reports last week after the SDF forces took Manbij said that dozens of IS fighters were holed up in the "security quarter."
Darwish said that around 2,500 other civilians "held captive by the jihadists were saved" by the SDF.
The US-backed forces were meanwhile combing al-Sirb on Friday for jihadists who could still be in the neighborhood, he added.
With air support from the U.S.-led coalition, the SDF began its assault on Manbij on May 31, surging into the town itself three weeks later.
But their offensive was slowed by a massive jihadist fightback using suicide attackers and car bombs, before a major push last week saw the SDF seize 90 percent of the town.
Tens of thousands of people lived in Manbij before the assault started in May.
The United Nations has said that more than 78,000 people have been displaced since then.
Manbij had served as a key transit point along IS' supply route from the Turkish border to Raqa, the de facto capital of its self-styled Islamic "caliphate."
The Britain-based Observatory says that the battle for Manbij has claimed the lives of at 437 civilians -- including 105 children -- and killed 299 SDF fighters and 1,019 jihadists.
12 August 2016, 17:35
27
How did we get here, a reminder
Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could have avoided civil war by responding more quickly to demands for political change. The country was ripe for serious changes, and the leadership should have felt that in time and started making changes. Then what is happening would not have happened" - Jun 11, 2013
12 August 2016, 17:35
27
How did we get here, a reminder
Syrian VP Farouk Al-Sharaa, in an Al-Akhbar Exclusive: "At the beginning of the mobilization, the authorities begged for the appearance of a single armed person or a sniper at the top of one of the buildings. I do not deny that some of us acted as if the dialogue was unnecessary and whispered this to the leadership. So it distanced itself under the pretext that the internal and external opposition saw it as one of the regime’s charades. In the end, this finished off the political dialogue and opened the doors wide for the dialogue of bullets and guns. The drop in the number of peaceful protesters led one way or another to the rise in militants. The way events are heading will lead to an uncomfortable place where things will definitely go from bad to worse." - Dec 17, 2012
12 August 2016, 17:36
27
How did we get here, a reminder
Mohammad Ali Sobhani current advisor in Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Iran’s former envoy to Lebanon from 1997 to 2005: "The Syrian crisis started with the detention of youths who went out protesting. This behavior continued until [the uprising] turned into a war, had the government calmed people and played its role, we would not have faced the current political and sectarian conflict in Syria" - Nov 27, 2014
12 August 2016, 17:37
26
How did we get here, a reminder
Mohammad Ali Sobhani adviser in Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Iran’s former envoy to Lebanon from 1997 to 2005: accused Iraqi former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of following sectarian policies when he was in office, which led to the formation of an incubator for ISIS, as quoted by the Iranian website Nameh News. He said, "Were it not for Maliki's exclusionary policies against Sunnis in the country, the group would not have found a popular incubator among the Sunnis."
Sobhani also criticized the Assad regime, saying, "The Syrian people initially protested peacefully for legitimate demands, but the Assad regime tried to suppress the demonstrations with excessive force which led to the emergence of armed groups later," and pointing out that if the Syrian state had taken measures at the beginning of the demonstrations to meet the legitimate demands of the protesters, the situation would not be like it is today. - Nov 28, 2014
12 August 2016, 17:39
26
How did IS get here to begin with
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Monday that 90 percent of foreign terrorists who infiltrate Iraq did so via Syria. Syria is being used as a staging post for insurgents to launch deadly attacks across the border. Maliki reiterated that ties with Damascus would not improve until it handed over the suspects it blames for one of two bloody attacks on government ministries in Baghdad on August 19 that killed 95 people and wounded 600."We demand that the Syrian side hand over the main people wanted in this crime" Maliki said.
Maliki also insisted that Damascus "expel the terrorists, Baathists and Takfiris who take Syria as a base to launch criminal activity inside Iraq" - Sept 01, 2009
12 August 2016, 19:02
211
I won't be talking about this for sure
Reports: Armed clashes between families have erupted in Bekaa's Hawrtaala and the army has encircled the town from all sides.
Tomorrow look for a rerun of one of my old speeches. I am actually on vacation watching the Olympics live and in person. I'm found a cozy nice little fully furnished sewer under Rio on AirBnB.
12 August 2016, 18:38
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@barry
I think that is how it will go with him tomorrow:
- We were victorious in 2006
- Saudi Arabia is our enemy
-Palestine and Jerusalem we will never forget you
- Our battle to liberate Palestine is existential in Aleppo.
- We killed more than 2,000 takfiris in Aleppo in 2 days
- We closed the 2 meter gap the takfiris were able to make
- The people of yemen bahrain and nigeria will be victorious over saudi tyranny.
- this is not a religious war against sunnis
did i miss anything?
12 August 2016, 19:11
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Assad tank destroyed by opposition on Aleppo’s Sheikh Sa’eed front
http://orient-news.net/en/news_show/120114/0/Assad-tank-destroyed-by-opposition-on-Aleppos-Sheikh-Saeed-front
Opposition fighters destroy an Assad Kornet rocket launcher in Aleppo
http://orient-news.net/en/news_show/120095/0/Opposition-fighters-destroy-an-Assad-Kornet-rocket-launcher-in-Aleppo
12 August 2016, 20:09
110
Rebel TOW missiles annihilate Hezbollah at the Cement Factory in Aleppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDHXulz5-J4
12 August 2016, 20:34
17
i don't think the chief terrorist will talk about that tomorrow;) Great shot!!!
