Kurdish Areas Hit by Syrian Warplanes
For the first time in the current Syrian conflict, government warplanes bombed Kurdish-controlled areas in Hasaka province on Thursday, Reuters reported.
At least 13 people were killed in airstrikes on positions in northeast and northwest Hasaka, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement they “would not be silent” on the attacks, adding “every hand spattered with the blood of our people will be held to account through all possible and available means.”
The Syrian government and YPG have largely avoided direct conflict in the five-year civil war, with the government using its combat jets to routinely target rebel groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurdish YPG forces are a key ally of the U.S.-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State.
Earlier this year, Kurdish groups announced the establishment of autonomous rule in predominantly Kurdish regions of northeastern Syria, but have allowed the government to maintain some positions in the cities of Qamishli and Hasaka.
There were clashes in other parts of Hasaka, with Kurdish districts under artillery fire from pro-government forces, according to the YPG spokesman.
SDF Releases Photos of ISIS Using Civilians as Human Shields
Militants from the so-called Islamic State fleeing the northern city of Manbij used civilians as human shields to escape, according to images released by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), BBC News reported.
The SDF, an alliance of U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters leading the campaign against ISIS, said the photographs were taken on Friday.
Hundreds of vehicles were pictured driving north, after the SDF, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, took control of Manbij. Nearly 200 militants left the city, fleeing with their families and civilian hostages whom they placed in each of the cars leaving the city.
“We had to treat them all as non-combatants. We didn’t shoot. We kept watching,” said Col. Chris Garve, U.S. spokesman for the coalition.
Located on a key supply route for the militants between their based in Raqqa and the Turkish border, the loss of Manbij is the most significant setback for ISIS since the beginning of the Syrian conflict.
Russia Ready for 48-hour Truce in Aleppo, Under Conditions
Russia said it is ready to uphold a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo next week, if all the warring factions involved abide by it, Al Jazeera reported.
The U.N. has repeatedly called for weekly 48-hour truces in the war-torn city to allow for sufficient aid deliveries, and welcomed this latest announcement from the Russian Defense Ministry.
“Our plan is to collectively work out the operational details, and be ready for delivery as soon as possible,” said a statement from the U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura’s office.
The statement added that Russia, the U.S. and regional authorities involved in Syria’s conflict must ensure that their respective allies adhere to the ceasefire.
The announcement refers to the 48-hour ceasefire as a “pilot program,” and does not clarify if it will happen more than once, as the U.N. has called for. It mentions only Aleppo, and no other areas where the Russian military is operating in Syria.
Western diplomats welcomed the announced truce, emphasizing that the U.N. should be running the humanitarian operations.
Recommended Reads
- The New York Times: How Omran Daqneesh, 5, Became a Symbol of Aleppo’s Suffering
- The Atlantic: A Syria-First Strategy for Defeating ISIS
- The Guardian: Aleppo Doctor: ‘Shedding Tears for the Injured Children of Syria is Not Enough’
- The Daily Beast: ISIS Leaves Behind Booby-Trapped Hospitals in Liberated Town
- Business Insider: Syria ‘is Being Swallowed Whole by Its Clients’: Assad May Be Losing Control Over His Own Militias