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| ‘It’s a street war now,’ SDF close in on ISIS in Baghouz: 38+ turbans killed, | ||||||
| 2019-03-13 | ||||||
Coalition jets pound ISIS positions from the side and the SDF are attacking them on three sides from the ground. "Our forces have liberated this region. This is the place where civilians were staying. Our fighters went to check the area, which is 50 metres from here. There are some festivities behind us. Overall the distance between us and ISIS is less than 100 metres," Mustafa Bali, the head of SDF’s media office, explained as he escorted Rudaw to an area of the tent camp their forces now control. ISIS snipers closely watch the routes leading to the camp. Smoke rises above the ragged tents and the steady crack of gunfire fills the air. An estimated 2,500 people ‐ gunnies and their families ‐ remain in the camp, though setting a firm number is difficult since ISIS is using a network of tunnels and trenches dug on the shores of the Euphrates River. "There are ISIS fighters in that house. They are hiding in the tunnels," said an SDF fighter, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. "It’s a street war now," said another SDF fighter. "ISIS fighters are some metres away from us. One of the imported muscle came close. I told him to surrender and he would live. But he didn’t surrender. I shot him, but missed." ISIS released a new video on Tuesday in which they appeared defeated. Footage of the beleaguered tent camp is markedly different from the triumphant clips the jihadists published when they controlled swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria. "Why are we being bombarded by airplanes? Why do all the heathen countries of the world gather to fight us? What is our sin? What is our crime?... It was that we wanted to implement Allah’s sharia [law]," a turban identified as Abou Abdulaadhim is seen saying. He declared that even if they are "wiped out" it will be a "victory" because he will soon be in "paradise." In the video, a mini bus with a mounted megaphone is seen driving through the camp as a turban urges people to ask forgiveness from God. The SDF are trying to open a safe exit route so that any civilians who want to leave can do so.
Three SDF fighters had been killed and 10 wounded, Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office, said in a post on Twitter.
Those surrendering included both Islamic State fighters and their family members, said Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF's media office.
The brief, minute-and-a half recording, released by IS supporters on social media and reported by the SITE Intelligence Group late on Monday says men, women and children in the village of Baghouz are being subjected to a "holocaust." In the audio, an unidentified IS militant calls on Muslim "brothers, in Europe and in the whole world" to "rise against the Crusaders and ... take revenge for your religion." The recording's authenticity couldn't be independently verified. It comes as U.S.-backed Syrian fighters are making what's likely the final push to take IS-held Baghouz.
Airstrikes and shelling have pummeled Baghouz for two nights in a row, killing scores of fighters and prompting hundreds of jihadists and their relatives to surrender. "There was fierce fighting," Ali Cheir, an SDF unit commander, told AFP from a rudimentary outpost inside the village. "The objective of our advance is to terrorize IS fighters so they surrender, and for the civilians to come out," said the 27-year-old fighter. The frontline was quiet Tuesday morning, hours after the airstrikes and rocket attacks on Monday night engulfed the last IS pocket in flames. The commander said the SDF had slowed its offensive after daybreak to allow for jihadists and their relatives to turn themselves in. "There are people handing themselves over now and we have completely halted fire so that they can surrender," he said. Another SDF official who asked not to be named said that his force and the coalition only target IS positions at night. Coalition warplanes pounded the jihadist redoubt with 20 airstrikes, destroying armored vehicles and arms caches, SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said. He said U.S.-backed forces clashed with jihadists on several fronts, killing nearly 40 IS fighters. Beyond Baghouz, IS retains a presence in eastern Syria's vast Badia desert and sleeper cells in the northeast.
Kurdish-led units are reportedly preparing a final assault on the last "Islamic State" holdout. | ||||||
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #6 All that head-chopping, slavery and mass executions kind of get folks 'wee-wee'd up' too, Frank. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2019-03-13 10:49 |
| #5 "Why are we being bombarded by airplanes? Why do all the heathen countries of the world gather to fight us? What is our sin? What is our crime?... It was that we wanted to implement Allah’s sharia [law]," a turban identified as Abou Abdulaadhim is seen saying. Maybe we just don't like assholes? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2019-03-13 09:38 |
| #4 Pig Blood Air Burst? But why give them anything close to their first bath. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2019-03-13 08:46 |
| #3 Can't someone oops a fuel air bomb? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2019-03-13 06:09 |
| #2 Make them submit or get blown to hamburger and die. And no fingers crossed crap. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2019-03-13 01:12 |
| #1 Help them meet their God. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-03-13 00:18 |