Share

UN worried for Syrians stranded by Islamic State advance

The advance — the biggest by IS in Aleppo province in two years — is part of an IS offensive targeting rebel strongholds near the Turkish border that began Thursday night.

Advertisement

IS blocked the attack with a suicide bomber, killing six rebel fighters, the Britain-based monitor said.

The civilians have been fleeing fighting between Syrian rebels and militant group Daesh that advanced into the opposition-held town of Marea at the weekend, a significant advance by the jihadists against Turkish-backed insurgents.

Turkey is part of the USA -led coalition targeting IS in an airstrikes campaign.

Pablo Marco, the regional operations manager for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), also said, “We are terribly concerned. about the estimated 100,000 people trapped between the Turkish border and active front lines”.

“Fleeing civilians are being caught in crossfire and are facing challenges to access medical services, food, water and safety”, it said in a statement Saturday.

Meanwhile, opposition authorities in the rebel-held town of Azaz near the Turkish border have issued a directive to not let in any more people fleeing Daesh-held areas.

The government in Ankara also offered the Obama administration to set up joint forces to combat the Islamic State after the Turkish proxy-forces that include many Islamist groups lost at least 7 villages to ISIS in the area of Azaz last week.

The Turkish military usually responds with artillery barrages into northern Syria, but officials have said it is hard to hit mobile Islamic State targets with howitzers.

The Erdogan regime is angry at Washington after it became clear USA soldiers are assigned to Kurdish YPG units in the Syrian Democratic Forces, who last week launched an assault on ISIS north of its capital Raqqa. Rebel groups battling Islamic State in the area, which Washington sees as strategically vital, have been supplied with weapons via Turkey.

Advertisement

The United States is backing the YPG and its allies in an offensive against IS in the northern countryside of neighbouring Raqqa province, which is home to the group’s de facto capital, Raqqa city. Turkish officials have said they need more help from Western allies in defending the border.

Civilians fleeing a Daesh offensive in northwestern Syria have been prevented by Syrian Kurdish authorities from entering areas under their control in response