Daily Mirror

Threat to region and Europe as 1,000 flee amid Turkey blitz

- BY CHRIS HUGHES Defence and Security Editor

Ras al-Ain town is pounded FEARS of a fresh wave of Islamic State atrocities soared after a thousand members of the terror group broke out of Kurdish jails in Syria. Elderly evacuee in Akcakale town of Ras al-Ain. Kurdish forces said 11 were killed and 74 injured but it was not clear how many were civilians.

Jail escapees may include British IS recruiter

Tooba Gondal, 25, thought to have recruited London schoolgirl Shamima Begum.

Three other unnamed British women are thought to have fled but the whereabout­s of Begum is unknown.

Kurdish have guarded 10,000 IS members warn Turkey’s strikes could allow more jihadists to go free.

The Rojava Defence Units said: “Watching over IS prisoners in Syria is a second priority now the US has cleared the way for a Turkish assault.”

Around 1,000 US troops began withdrawin­g from north-east Syria yesterday.

Syrian Democratic Forces leader General Mazloum Kobani Abdi told President Trump’s SECURITY SOURCE regime: “You are leaving us to be slaughtere­d. You have sold us.”

Turkey’s blitz on the Syrian Kurds – who helped beat IS but are regarded as terrorists by Ankara – has been widely condemned. Some 130,000 civilians have already fled the fighting, sparking fears of a major humanitari­an disaster.

Downing Street said the PM has urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end the campaign and enter into dialogue.

In London, hundreds of protesters, including Kurdish citizens, bore placards bearing images of Erdogan and slogans like “Murderer Turkish state” as they made their way to Parliament Square.

Niaz Maarof, 41, a driver from London originally from South Kurdistan, said: “The world does owe the Kurdish for what they did in Syria. We are upset, not only with Turkey but most of the world, because we are not being helped.”

This will embolden IS to start planning atrocities in Europe

 ??  ?? BLAST CRISIS DEADLY STRIKE Turkey-backed Syrian fighter in Ras al-Ain
BLAST CRISIS DEADLY STRIKE Turkey-backed Syrian fighter in Ras al-Ain
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom