Town where Isis bride and child are held is under f ire
Turks breach ‘safe zone’
TURKISH forces have attacked Ayn Issa, a town in northern Syria near where Irish Isis bride Lisa Smith is being held.
Turkey has already breached its alleged ‘safe zone’, a strip 30km deep inside Syria, and attacked the area where Ms Smith and her three-year-old daughter, Rakaya, are being held in a camp.
Smith and her daughter currently share a tent with the wife of imprisoned Irish citizen Alexandr Bekhardline
MSF has expressed concern
mirzaev and his son, Abdul Malik.
Both children have yet to be repatriated, despite a statement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last March that all Irish citizens would be repatriated.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have repeatedly warned that a Turkish military incursion into Syria will force them to move fighters currently guarding Isis fighters and their families.
Ms Smith, a former member of the Irish Defence Forces, had repeatedly requested repatriation, putting her at loggerheads with Isis wives who are calling for executions of those disloyal to Isis and its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Former Lillies Bordello bouncerturned-jihadist Alexandr Bekmirzaev could be set free if the SDF can no longer guard the prisons.
Bekmirzaev, whose son was born in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, was radicalised by an infamous Jordanian Isis recruiter.
This person was deported from Ireland following a Garda investigation.
Gardaí announced yesterday that Dundalk native Ms Smith is the subject of a criminal investigation but it is unclear if Irish authorities will be able to extract her from Syria at present.
Tens of thousands of civilians, including wounded fighters from the wars with Isis are fleeing the region. Humanitarian agencies have scaled up their relief operations as temperatures fall.
The charity Save the Children said thousands of children were fleeing hostilities along with their families, and confirmed that it would increase its relief operations.
The UN warned that those fleeing the fighting were more at risk because temperatures were falling as colder weather sets in.
Medecins Sans Frontieres has expressed concern for families living in the camps housing Isis family members.
‘MSF is concerned that the many thousands of women and children living in camps such as Al Hol and Ayn Issa are also now particularly vulnerable, as humanitarian organisations have been forced to suspend or limit their operations.
This could leave thousands of people without access to critical relief, and with no resolution in sight.’
A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Government is ‘monitoring’ the situation in northern Syria.
‘The Department, through our embassies in the region, are closely monitoring the situation in northern Syria, which is very complex and rapidly changing.
‘As in all cases where Irish citizens are in distress or danger overseas, the Department will continue to engage with partners and provide appropriate consular advice and assistance.
‘Given the particularly volatile and complex situation in the region in this case, it would not be helpful to comment on specific cases or any possible course of action.’