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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
6,000 civilians human shields trapped by ISIS in Hajin, UN warns
2018-12-23
[Rudaw] The United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
is concerned about an estimated 6,000 civilians human shields trapped by ISIS in Hajin.

"We are of course aware of continuing reports of intense fighting in and around Hajin enclave, with estimated 6,000 civilians human shields trapped by Da’esh in desperate conditions," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told Rudaw’s Majeed Gly on Friday.

"Sustained access to civilians displaced by ongoing hostilities in the immediate vicinity of the Hajin area has remained very challenging," he added.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) broke the back of ISIS defences in Hajin last week, after weeks of stalemate, but are fully in control of only 35 percent the town, estimated SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali on Friday.

And ISIS is fighting to regain territory. The SDF forces came under an intense attack by gunnies in Hajin’s Abu Khatr village, said Bali. The Kurdish-led forces were defending themselves against ISIS boom-mobiles and heavy weapon fire, with the aid of coalition air support.

The civilians human shields are caught in the middle. Conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the deaths of 200 civilians in the last month of fighting in eastern Deir ez-Zor province.

Some 1,700 civilians were able to flee the town as the SDF advanced, but the gunnies also executed more than 700 of its prisoners when it was under military pressure.

Civilians who do escape are sheltering in makeshift circumstances and Dujarric said they have difficulty accessing the IDPs as "the area remains largely inaccessible due to current instability."

The UN's warning and ongoing intense festivities firmly contradict US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s recent claim that he "defeated ISIS in Syria."

The International Crisis Group (ICG) said that Trump’s announcement and order to pull American troops out of Syria "may have given it [ISIS] a new lease on life."

A "military free-for-all" if ISIS has the space to regroup and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
has the freedom to attack the SDF, will "have devastating humanitarian consequences," ICG warned.
Posted by:trailing wife

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