Civilians suffer as IS loses grip
Extremists trapped in military vice, bloodshed expected to mount
THE ISLAMIC State (IS) is taking its last stand in Syria and Iraq as it slowly loses the war against the US-backed coalition in the two countries where it formerly controlled large swathes of territory in an attempt to create a new caliphate.
US Defence Secretary, General James Mattis, has given warning that the extremists are now trapped in a military vice that is squeezing them on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border as the fight to liberate the Syrian town of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the IS in Syria, continues.
And the fighting is expected to get worse after US President Donald Trump vowed to take a more aggressive approach towards the extremists.
Furthermore, the liberation of Raqqa – where many IS fighters fled after they were driven out of Mosul in Iraq recently – comes at a high price with residents reporting more than 100 civilians killed in US-led air strikes over the last few days.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put Monday’s death toll at 42, including 19 children and 12 women, and said 27 were killed on Sunday.
“The tolls are high because the air strikes are hitting neighbourhoods in the city centre that are densely packed with civilians, trying to get away from the front lines,” said director Rami Abdel Rahman.
“Coalition air strikes are targeting any building where any kind of IS movement is being detected.”
The deaths came on the second consecutive day of a ferocious bombing campaign in Raqqa, more than half of which has been captured by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces battling the IS.
In neighbouring Iraq, US-backed Iraqi forces on Tuesday reported significant gains in their ongoing push to dislodge IS militants from Tal Afar. However, following the high number of civilian deaths senior UN humanitarian officials for Syria have expressed deep concern.
“The UN condemns attacks directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure. The humanitarian community reminds all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and to spare no effort to prevent civilian casualties,” said Ali Al-Za’tari, the humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, and Ramesh Rajasingham, acting regional humanitarian co-ordinator.
In recent months, regular air strikes and shelling in Raqqa have resulted in scores of civilian casualties. About 75 000 people have been displaced, but 18 000 to 25 000 who remain trapped risk being killed by IS snipers or mines if they try to flee, or being used as human shields or killed in indiscriminate air strikes if they stay. – ANA