Convoy saves women, children from last Daesh holdout in Syria
A convoy of trucks evacuated dozens of people including women and children from Daesh’s last Syria redoubt Wednesday, bringing US-backed forces closer to retaking the last sliver of the “caliphate.”
The implosion of the militant proto-state which once spanned swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq has left Western nations grappling with how to handle citizens who left to join Daesh.
Around 15 trucks carrying men, women and children exited the last patch of Daesh territory in eastern Syria, according to AFP correspondents.
Women wearing face veils, several children — including young veiled girls — as well as men were seen inside the vehicles.
Their exact number and nationalities were not immediately clear.
The convoy passed a position of the Kurdish-led SDF, which are spearheading the battle against the militants, after leaving the last Daesh holdout in the village of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border.
SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said the trucks were evacuating a first batch of civilians, but some remained inside.
“After many days of trying, we were able to evacuate the first batch today,” Bali told AFP.
The number of people who quit the holdout would become clear once the convoy arrived at a nearby SDF screening point, he said.
“We don’t know if IS fighters are among them, we will know at the screening point,” Bali said.
Backed by airstrikes by a US-led coalition, the SDF have trapped Daesh fighters in a less than half-asquare kilometer area in Baghouz.
The SDF have slowed their advance in recent days to protect civilians ahead of a final push to defeat the militants.
Thousands of people — mostly women and children related to Daesh members — have streamed out of Baghouz in the past weeks, but the flow had largely stopped in recent days.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said a deal appeared to have been reached with the militants. There have been negotiations for the surrender of the last Daesh militants, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
“There are reports of a deal, but we don’t know the details yet,” he said. On Tuesday, the SDF said several Daesh fighters and dozens of civilians handed themselves over to the Kurdish-led force.
Spokesman Adnan Afrin said a convoy of trucks had entered Baghouz to transfer militants and their relatives out to SDF-held territory. He said foreigners were among those who left the pocket, but did not say where they were from, or if they were civilians.
The Free Burma Rangers volunteer group said 40 people had exited the enclave on Tuesday, including a French woman with two infants. The UN on Tuesday said around 200 families, including many women and children, were “reportedly trapped” in the last Daesh holdout.
Among them, several foreign militants have emerged, including German Martin Lemke and Frenchman Quentin Le Brun. At its height, the Daesh “caliphate” spanned an area the size of the UK, with the militants implementing their brutal rule on millions.