New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the European Union to evaluate Syrian refugees’ protection claims before returning them to Turkey, citing a lack of refugee rights and necessities to create a decent life.
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Syrian troops have been on the offensive for almost three weeks and approached to within 7 kilometres (4 miles) of the Tabqa air base near Raqqa city, the de facto capital of the IS group’s self-declared caliphate.
Tabqa is strategically located on the Euphrates River west of Raqqa.
A senior Turkish official said they were so far “unable to independently verify the claims” regarding the shooting, but authorities were investigating.
“It is hardly surprising that many are not getting the support they desperately need to maintain livelihoods”, considering Turkey is host to over 2 million Syrian refugees, said Stephanie Gee, a fellow with the refugee rights program at HRW.
Jisr al-Shoughour has become a key smuggling route since Turkey closed its borders to Syrian refugees this year. Government forces had seized the field on Sunday only to lose it hours later. He added that after two days of fierce battles, the army had to withdraw from “some” of the positions it captured recently.
Abdel Rahman had no immediate toll for the number of IS jihadists killed.
On May 31, the Kurdish-led Democratic Forces of Syria (DFS), backed by US-led airstrikes, launched a widescale offensive on the Minbij pocket, the extremists’ last territory on the Turkish border. CNN has previously been told that procedure now is to verbally try to stop people approaching the border then fire warning shots.
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For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the allegations and described the reports on this matter as “wrong and not a reflection of the truth”. Russian Federation says some U.S.-backed rebels have links to a local affiliate of al-Qaida, which along with the Islamic State militant group is excluded from the cease-fire negotiated in February.
