Tag Archives: Syria
Truckloads of civilians leave Islamic State enclave in Syria
Trucks loaded with civilians left the last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria on Friday, as U.S.-backed forces waited to inflict final defeat on the surrounded jihadists. Reporters near the front line at Baghouz saw dozens of trucks driving out with civilians inside them, but it was not clear if more remained in the tiny pocket. The village is all that remains for Islamic State in the Euphrates valley region that became its final populated stronghold in Iraq and Syria after it lost the major cities of Mosul and Raqqa in 2017.
More than 150 IS militants handed over to Iraq from Syria
Convoy plucks women, children from last IS holdout in Syria
Hundreds of people including women and children were trucked out of the Islamic State group’s last Syria redoubt Wednesday, bringing US-backed forces closer to retaking the last sliver of the “caliphate”. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said however it was just a first wave of evacuations, and that a large number of civilians and IS fighters still remained inside. The implosion of the jihadists’ proto-state, which once spanned swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, has left Western nations grappling with how to handle citizens who left to join IS.
Operation to end last IS Syria pocket hits evacuation snag
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has steadily driven the jihadists down the Euphrates, has surrounded them at Baghouz near the Iraqi border, but does not want to mount a final attack until all civilians are out. Iraqi sources said the SDF handed over more then 150 Iraqi and other foreign jihadists to Iraq on Thursday, under a deal involving a total of 502. The SDF had expected to pull the last civilians from Baghouz on Thursday, but trucks it sent in left empty.
Syria force hit by IS attack as tries to free last civilians
A deadly car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group hit US-backed forces in eastern Syria on Thursday as they tried to negotiate the release of civilians trapped in the jihadists’ last sliver of territory. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are working towards evacuating civilians remaining in the holdout, so they can finish off the dying IS “caliphate” either through an assault or a surrender deal. The jihadists overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but several offensives have retaken all but half a square kilometre (a fifth of a square mile) of their territory in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz.
More than 150 IS militants handed over to Iraq from Syria
OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group handed over more than 150 Iraqi members of the group to Iraq, an Iraqi security official said Thursday, marking the biggest repatriation from Syria of captured militants so far.
US weighing options on American IS sympathizer in Syria
The United States said Tuesday it wanted to ensure foreign jihadists remain off the battlefield as it weighed options on an American detained in Syria who says she wants to return home. The United States has urged European powers to take back hundreds of their citizens who fought with the Islamic State movement in Syria, but acknowledged the situation was complex in the rare case of an American jihadist. Hoda Muthana, a 24-year-old from Alabama who became a prominent online agitator for the extremists, said in an interview published Sunday with The Guardian that she had been brainwashed online and “deeply regrets” joining the movement.
Islamic State steps up guerrilla attacks in Syria: SDF
Islamic State has stepped up guerrilla attacks against U.S.-backed fighters in eastern Syria, pointing to the threat the jihadists will pose even after they lose their last enclave there, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Tuesday. The U.S.-backed SDF is on the brink of defeating Islamic State (IS) in its last pocket in eastern Syria, the village of Baghouz, where it estimates a few hundred Islamic State fighters and about 2,000 civilians are under siege. Islamic State militants have intensified attacks away from the last frontline in recent days, Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office, said.
Two hundred families trapped by Islamic State in Syria, U.N. says
Some 200 families are trapped in a shrinking area of Syria controlled by Islamic State, whose forces are stopping many from fleeing, U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday, calling for the families’ safe passage. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are on the brink of defeating IS in its last pocket in eastern Syria, the village of Baghouz, where it estimates a few hundred Islamic State fighters and about 2,000 civilians are under siege.
Efforts to evacuate civilians from IS area in Syria resume
AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria (AP) — Dozens of trucks arrived Tuesday at the outskirts of a besieged enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, signaling renewed efforts to evacuate hundreds of civilians trapped in the militants' last patch of territory along the Euphrates River.
