Alberta woman among those fleeing ISIS in Syria, reports say
A woman from Alberta was among those fleeing the last Syrian village held by the so-called Islamic State group, according to a reporter on the ground.
On Thursday, New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi tweeted that a woman from Alberta was among the thousands of people coming out of Baghuz, Syria. The town, currently surrounded by the Syrian military, Iraqi forces and American-supported Kurdish and Arab fighters, is the last physical territory held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, according to a Times report.
“The number of overseas recruits to ISIS coming out of this pocket is stunning,” Callimachi tweeted, followed by a picture of a 28-year-old mother of two who said she is from Toronto.
“She came out with a 34-year-old Canadian woman from Alberta.”
Callimachi did not identify the woman or say where specifically she is from. Postmedia has reached out to Global Affairs Canada to see whether government officials are aware of the women.
The news comes as Canada debates what to do with Canadians and their families who left the country to join ISIS.
ISIS has lost nearly all of the territory it captured in eastern Syria and western Iraq starting in 2014, but continues to have tens of thousand of fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to the Times.
Amarnath Amarasingam, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue who studies returning ISIS fighters, said women and children captured from former ISIS strongholds are taken to a series of refugee-style camps in northeast Syria. The men are taken to prison.
“It’s not entirely clear what the process is after that, but some women have been able to contact their families,” he said in a message. “After this, it’s basically a waiting game until governments decide when and if to take back their citizens.”
Amarasingam knew of around 20 Canadians — five women, four men and 11 kids — being held by Kurdish forces in the region. They are among the more than 2,000 men, women, and children from 44 countries currently being held.