Civilians become human shields for IS in Raqa

Maya Gebeily - ِِِAs fighters from the IS group retreat into a shrinking part of Syria’s Raqa, they are dragging along terrified civilians for cover against a ferocious US-backed onslaught. Locals who managed to flee describe being herded into apartments in buildings used by extremists as makeshift military bases, and serving as human shields for fighters as they collect water. adidas yeezy boost Civilians say the tactic — used elsewhere by the group to slow its opponents — is increasingly putting them in the cross hairs of US air power and allied fighters as they battle IS in densely populated districts near Raqa’s centre. Raqa resident Umm Alaa and her family were twice forced to provide cover to IS extremists, she said. nike air max thea pas cher “Weeks ago, an Iraqi (IS) fighter came to our house in Al Barid and told us it had become a military zone,” she said outside a mosque in Hawi al Hawa, a western suburb of Raqa controlled by the US-backed force. adidas nmd IS moved her with her husband, their son Alaa and two-year-old grandson Hassan into a nearby building and refused their pleas to return home. nike kd 6 Three days later, extremists displaced them again, this time to a damaged building with other families in the battle-ravaged district of Al Badu. “They were holding us as human shields. ray ban collection 2013 homme They were keeping us there to protect themselves,” said her husband Abu Alaa. The whole family escaped on foot with other civilians on Friday. Women Kevin Durant The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces broke into Raqa in June, and has since captured around 90 per cent of the city, with the help of heavy US-led air strikes. asics gold Tens of thousands of civilians have fled, but with fighting and air strikes concentrated on a shrinking IS-held section of the city, the exodus has slowed to a trickle. As its options dwindle, extremists are taking up positions inside residential buildings, said Mohannad, a woman who also escaped Al Badu with her four children. “They tried to move into the basement or the first floor of our buildings because it protected them from air strikes,” she said. IS fighters sought out apartments left behind by fleeing families, so Mohannad began putting out clothes and blankets on the balconies of empty ones to trick extremists into thinking they were occupied. She and her children were forced to move four times, and when they were moved into Al Badu there was little to eat. nike air max thea They were not allowed to leave except to draw water from nearby boreholes. “At the wells, Daesh would allow its fighters to fill up water first and made civilians wait for hours to protect them from air strikes,” she said. In late September, the coalition acknowledged the deaths of 735 civilians in its strikes on Syria and Iraq since 2014, but the Britain-based Observatory says hundreds have been killed in Raqa alone since June. nike air max 90 Among them, said Umm Alaa, was her son, a pharmacist who was killed in a raid as he helped wounded civilians. “They fire at each other and we’re in the middle.” Coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon said IS is likely holding civilians hostage in positions, including the national hospital in central Raqa. “The Coalition takes extraordinary care in our planning and operations to ensure no harm is inflicted upon innocent civilians,” he said. But those precautions “are not sufficient,” said Nadim Houry, director of Human Rights Watch’s terrorism and counter-terrorism programme. “The battle isn’t just about retaking a particular building or retaking square metres. Ultimately it’s about protecting civilians,” he said.