785 ‘Daesh elements’ have fled Syrian camp, say Kurds

Beirut, October 13

The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria said 785 foreigners affiliated with Islamic State managed to escape a camp where they were being held following Turkish shelling on Sunday.

In an apparent reference to Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, the administration said in a statement that “mercenaries” had attacked a camp near Ain Issa where “Daesh elements” - a reference to Islamic State (IS) - in turn attacked camp guards and opened the gates. The number of locals fleeing the Turkish assault soared to 1,30,000.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey’s military and its Syrian rebel allies will advance 30-35 km into Syrian territory in their offensive against Kurdish militia and they have already seized control of the town of Ras al-Ain.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said the Turkish-led forces had also besieged the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad.

Turkish forces have taken control of the key M4 highway in northern Syria.

“Following successful operations as part of Operation Peace Spring, the M4 highway has been brought under control after a 30-35 km-deep incursion,” the ministry announced on Twitter.

Fighting raged along the border on the fifth day of an offensive that has provoked an international outcry and left dozens of civilians and fighters dead.

Kurdish authorities and foreign powers have warned repeatedly that the hostilities could undermine the fight against the Islamic State group (IS) and allow jihadists to break out of captivity.

Fighting has engulfed the area since Wednesday when Ankara launched a long-threatened offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who it considers “terrorists” linked to insurgents inside Turkey.

US President Donald Trump has been accused of abandoning a loyal ally in the fight against IS after ordering American troops to pull back from the border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported on Sunday that 14 more civilians had been killed in fighting.

More than 50 civilians have now died on the Syrian side, with Turkish reports putting the number of civilians dead from Kurdish shelling inside Turkey at 18.

The Observatory said pro-Ankara fighters “executed” at least nine civilians on Saturday near the Syrian town of Tal Abyad.

The Kurds said a female Kurdish party official and her driver were among those killed. Aid groups have warned of another humanitarian disaster in Syria’s eight-year-old war if the offensive is not halted.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the exodus sparked by the fighting had grown to 130,000 people and it was preparing for that figure to more than triple.

“We have moved into a planning scenario where up to 400,000 people could be displaced within and across the affected areas,” spokesman Jens Laerke told AFP.

Some 12,000 IS fighters, including Syrians, Iraqis as well as foreigners from 54 countries are detained in Kurdish prisons, according to official Kurdish statistics.

Displacement camps host some 12,000 foreigners— 8,000 children and 4,000 women. According to Turkish media, Ankara aims to take control of a territory 120 kilometre long and 30 kilometres into Syria, up to the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain. — IANS

Will withdraw every troop from Syria: US   

• The United States is poised to evacuate about 1,000 US troops from northern Syria, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Sunday 
• The withdrawal of troops from the region comes after US President Donald Trump abruptly shifted policy and withdrew some US soldiers deployed to support Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State
• “In the last 24 hours, we learned that the Turkey is likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned,” he said