ISIS families escape refugee camp after Turkish bombs hit Ain Issa
A Syrian Kurdish official told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday that Islamic State families had escaped a displacement camp in northern Syria after it was struck by Turkish artillery.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Syrian Kurdish official told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday that Islamic State families had escaped a displacement camp in northern Syria after it was struck by Turkish artillery.
Luqman Ahmi, a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led self-administration of northeast Syria, confirmed reports that relatives of Islamic State fighters had escaped the Ain Issa camp.
Ahmi said the attack on the displaced persons camp in Ain Issa “is banned by international law,” noting that the facility housed thousands of Islamic State families. He claimed the Turkish forces hit the camp intentionally to facilitate an escape for the Islamic State prisoners.
According to UN statistics, the Ain Issa camp hosts 13,000 refugees and displaced persons. Other local official sources claim at least 950 foreign women and children who belong to Islamic State fighters reside at the camp.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also reported that many Islamic State families had escaped and that Internal Security Forces (Asayish) evacuated the camp amid clashes.
According to eyewitnesses, the Turkish bombs struck the camp’s vicinity, which led to displaced people in the open section of the camp to flee, including those in the restricted parts, among them the Islamic State relatives.
In a statement on Sunday, the Kurdish-led administration in Ain Issa called on the United Nations, the US-led coalition, the Arab League, and the European Union to intervene against the Turkish offensive near the camp.
“We, therefore, call on all of you to shoulder your responsibilities and to intervene quickly to prevent a catastrophe that will not only affect Syria but will knock your doors when things get out of hand,” the statement read.
The administration claimed Turkey’s final goal is to carry out ethnic cleansing against Kurds and Christians and to reproduce the so-called Islamic State.
A source from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) told Kurdistan 24 that the Turkish attacks on Ain Issa pose a threat to thousands of civilians in Kobani, Manbij, and Tabqa.
“If those mercenaries come to Ain Issa, they plan to cut Tabqa, Manbij, and Kobani from Cizere [Hasakah province],” they said.
On Saturday, Turkish-backed groups attempted to control a point at the M4 road but were repelled by the SDF. In the attack, civilians were executed after being captured. The Future Syria Party’s Secretary-General, Hevrin Khalaf, was also killed in the attack.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany