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| Terror Networks |
| The Beatings Will Continue: Raqqa and Fallujah Editions |
| 2016-05-28 |
| ISIS using human shields in Raqqa [ARA News] RAQQA – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) is using civilians as human shields in Syria’s northeastern Raqqa province, in a bid to impede the ongoing progress by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), activists reported on Thursday. Backed by the US-led coalition’s air cover, the SDF has been advancing against ISIS militants in the northern countryside of Raqqa province over the past few days. “ISIS has forced hundreds of civilians to stay inside buildings in central Raqqa that used to be security centres for the radical group. Many people are locked inside those locations,” local sources told ARA News in Raqqa, speaking on condition of anonymity. Several buildings of al-Hisba police and Sharia institutions have been filled with civilians in Raqqa city, according to media activist Salman al-Hamwi. “The main goal is that the SDF-led shelling and US-led airstrikes kill as much civilians as possible. ISIS is trying to increase the civilian casualties to claim that the western-backed SDF are targeting peaceful people,” al-Hamwi told ARA News. Also, in the villages of Tal Shahin, al-Adriya and Mlehan north of Raqqa civilians were prevented from escaping their houses. “Hundreds of villagers in Mlehan, Tal Shahin and al-Adriya are held hostage by ISIS militants, who are engaged in clashes with SDF forces in the vicinity of those villages,” SDF officer Habun Osman told ARA News on the phone. “We are aware of such barbaric tactics by ISIS terrorists. We’re trying to avoid using heavy weapons at such fronts to prevent civilian casualties,” he added. On Wednesday, the Kurdish-led SDF alliance recaptured four villages and towns in northern Raqqa–the de facto capital of the Islamic State. Subsequent to clashes with ISIS militant fighters, the SDF alliance liberated the villages of Qartaja, al-Fastah, Indebin and Matmasraja. “The battle for northern Raqqa has started, and our advance will continue until we cleanse the entire province from ISIS,” Osman said. The western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday afternoon launched an operation to capture the countryside of Raqqa from the Islamic State (ISIS) group. “Cleansing these territories from ISIS starts now from the north of Raqqa,” Kurdish Defence Minister of the Rojava Auto-Administration told ARA News in Kobane. ISIS executes 5 for desertion in Fallujah [ARA News] DUHOK – The radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) has executed five of its own militant fighters for escaping the battlefront in Fallujah, where clashes are ongoing between ISIS and the Iraqi army, local activists reported on Friday. “They have left their post at the battlefront in the northeastern suburb of Fallujah without permission from their leadership, which ISIS deems as a treason,” media activist Salwan Rashidi told ARA News in Fallujah. The five fighters were arrested inside the city of Fallujah, and the Sharia Court decided to execute them publicly on charges of “high treason”. “They were shot dead in central Fallujah after an ISIS officer read a statement, vowing that any fighter who would desert his fighting position will face the same punishment,” the source reported. This comes just one day after the Iraqi army forces recaptured the strategic town of Karma near Fallujah from the Islamic State (ISIS) group. “Subsequent to fierce clashes, our forces liberated Karma town from ISIS terrorists on Thursday afternoon,” Iraqi army officer Karrar al-Saadi told ARA News. The official added that at least twenty ISIS militant fighters were killed in the clashes in Karma–about 16km northeastern Fallujah. “By liberating Karma, the entire eastern Fallujah area is now under the control of the government forces,” he said. |
| Posted by:badanov |