UN calls for pause in Raqqa air strikes
Seeks to allow 20,000 civilians to escape as Syrian army surrounds ISIS
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations called on Thursday for a humanitarian pause to allow an estimated 20,000 trapped civilians to escape from the Syrian city of Raqqa, and urged the US-led coalition to rein in air strikes that have caused casualties.
Amnesty International said on Thursday that the coalition campaign to oust Islamic State from Raqqa had killed hundreds of civilians, and those remaining face greater risk as the fight intensifies in its final stages.
“On Raqqa, our urging today from the UN side to the members of the humanitarian task force... is that they need to do whatever is possible to make it possible for people to escape Raqqa,” Jan Egeland, UN humanitarian adviser on Syria, told reporters in Geneva.
“Boats on the Euphrates must not be attacked, people who come out cannot risk air raids when and where they come out,” he said.
“Now is the time to think of possibilities, pauses or otherwise that might facilitate the escape of civilians, knowing that Islamic State fighters are doing their absolute best to use them as human shields,” he said.
Humanitarian pauses were agreed upon between the warring sides last December to allow the evacuation of civilians from then rebel-held eastern Aleppo, Egeland said.
But he added that the United Nations has no contact with Islamic State fighters who have controlled Raqqa since 2014.
Egeland, referring to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said: “There is heavy shelling from the surrounding and encircling SDF forces and there are constant air raids from the coalition. So the civilian casualties are large and there seems to be no real escape for these civilians.”
Syrian government forces, backed by the Russian air force and Iran-backed militias, have also been advancing against ISIS south of the Euphrates River that forms Raqqa city’s southern edge.
“Inside Raqqa city, on both sides, conditions are very bleak and it is very hard to assist in all areas,” Egeland said.
The United Nations is still assessing the outcome of talks held this week in Riyadh between the three Syrian opposition groups – which failed to unite – Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, the UN deputy special envoy for Syria, said.
Asked whether Syria peace talks would be held in Geneva in September, he said: “We are waiting to get a full picture as to what happened in Riyadh, and we will have further consultations with the interested parties. And on that basis a decision will be taken as to when these talks will take place.”
Meanwhile Thursday, the Syrian Army and its allies surrounded Islamic State forces in a second large enclave in the center of the country, a military media unit run by Hezbollah said.
The Syrian military advanced south from southern areas of Raqqa province, joining up with its forces north of the town of al-Sukhna in Homs province, and in so doing closing the circle around the pocket of ISIS insurgents.
The ISIS enclave, located west of al-Sukhna and extending north into Hama province, totals approximately 2,000 sq.km., according to the Hezbollah media unit.
The Syrian Army secured al-Sukhna, 50 km. northeast of the ancient city of Palmyra, earlier this month. It was the last major town in Homs province held by Islamic State.
Last week, Syrian forces surrounded another large ISIS enclave in central Syria to the west of the one encircled on Thursday.
The jihadists have lost swaths of Syrian territory to separate campaigns being waged by government forces backed by Russia and Iran, and by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which is dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia. The SDF is currently focused on capturing Raqqa city from Islamic State.
Islamic State still controls nearly all of Deir al-Zor province, which is bordered to the east by Iraq. The Syrian government holds a pocket of territory in Deir al-Zor city and a nearby military base.