Residents in ISIS-Held Raqqa Have No Water After Russian Airstrikes

Russian airstrikes have cut the water supply in the so-called Islamic State group’s de facto capital, Raqqa, BBC News reported. The strikes hit a water pumping station that supplied the city.

At least 24 civilians were killed in the attacks, as well as six others whose affiliation could not be identified, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The anti-ISIS activist group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), reported an additional 50 injured.

In 2014, ISIS militants took control of Raqqa, a city on the north bank of the Euphrates now with an estimated population of up to 500,000. Russian-backed Syrian government forces and a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters are waging two military campaigns against ISIS west and northwest of Raqqa.

Turkey Seeks Increased Coordination With Russia

Turkey has officially called for cooperation with Russia in Syria, Al Jazeera reported.

The two countries should work together to target ISIS in Syria, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a live interview with NTV on Thursday. The proposal is still “on the table,” according to Cavusoglu.

“We will discuss all the details. We have always called on Russia to carry out anti-Daesh [ISIS] operations together,” Cavusoglu said.

The announcement came after a meeting in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday between Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. This was Erdogan’s first trip outside Turkey after the failed overthrow of his government last month.

It was also the first direct meeting between the two leaders since November 2015, when relations between Ankara and Moscow soured after Turkish forces shot down a Russian military plane near the Syrian border.

Increased intelligence sharing and cooperation between the two countries could prevent similar incidents, Cavusoglu said. “Many countries are engaged in Syria actively. There could be mistakes,” he said.

On Wednesday a Turkish delegation including representatives of the military, intelligence and foreign services flew to Moscow. Cavusoglu said the three-person delegation will be in charge of implementing any decisions made during the meetings.

Russia and Turkey back opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, now in its sixth year. Russia is a key ally of the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Turkey has been a supporter of several armed opposition groups fighting Assad.

British Teenager Who Joined ISIS Reportedly Killed

A U.K. schoolgirl who traveled to Syria in February 2015 to join ISIS died in an airstrike on Raqqa, according to the BBC.

Kadiza Sultana was 16 when she traveled to Syria along with two 15-year-old friends from London to join ISIS. Her family’s lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, told the BBC they had received news a few weeks ago that she had been in killed in an aerial bombardment on Raqqa.

In February, the three girls took a flight to Turkey, and later crossed the border into Syria. They had told their families they were going out for the day.

Sultana reportedly wanted to leave the militant group but was afraid of being caught and being brutally punished by ISIS militants, Akunjee said.

Recommended Reads

• The New York Times: The Persistence of Chlorine Gas Attacks in Syria
• Foreign Policy: The War on Syria‘s Doctors
• The Huffington Post: Syria: Good News and Bad
• Bloomberg View: Orders for U.S. Forces in Syria: ‘Don’t Get Shot’
• The New York Times: Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart