Rubble and charred cars in former Syria extremist hub
HAJIN(Syria): Burnt-out cars, craters and collapsed buildings dot the side of a road in the Syrian village of Hajin, after US-backed forces expelled the IS group.
The sound of mortar fire and flying bullets resounded inside Hajin on Saturday, as huge clouds of grey smoke billowed over the outskirts of the large village in eastern Syria.
The yellow flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces flew above one building, after the Kurdishled fighters seized the village from IS extremists on Friday.
“Hajin has come under the control of our forces,” SDF commander Zanar Awaz said.
“We are now fighting on the outskirts of Hajin and we are preparing to enter nearby villages,” he said in Kurdish, a shot of white in his short black hair. “We will finish off this terrorist group.”
Hajin lies on the east bank of the Euphrates in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border with Iraq. The village’s capture marks a milestone in a massive and costly operation backed by a US-led coalition to expel IS from eastern Syria. On Saturday, armoured vehicles brought in SDF fighters to reinforce the front lines outside Hajin, as coalition planes and helicopters flew overhead.
An SDF fighter sitting on the top of a vehicle with fellow combattants flashed a victory sign.
The Kurdish-led SDF launched an offensive in September to expel IS from a pocket including its main village Hajin, but their advance has been fraught with obstacles. “We’ve been facing a lot of difficulties: IS car bombs, suicide attackers. Most of them are foreign,” Awaz said. Since the start of the operation on September 10, at least 930 extremists and more than 540 SDF fighters have been killed, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.
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