Search For Keyword.

Deir Ezzor: two British soldiers injured by Daesh missile, two American jihadists surrendered to SDF

Two British soldiers were wounded Saturday in eastern Syria by a missile fired by Daesh (ISIS) an activist group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the pair were part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the militants.

"The two British soldiers were transported by helicopter to receive medical care," the Observatory's director Rami Abdel-Rahman told AFP.

A Kurdish fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) died in the attack in the village of Al-Shaafa in Deir Ezzor province, one of the last pockets of territory still controlled by Daesh in the Euphrates River valley.

The SDF, a coalition dominated by Kurdish fighters, has spearheaded the fight against Daesh, supported by several Western countries including the United Kingdom.

The international alliance seized the key Daesh holdout of Hajin in December after months of fighting that has seen the militants launch vicious counter-attacks.

Daesh, which once controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq, has been pounded by multiple offensives.

Meanwhile, Five foreign jihadists have surrendered to the SDF, including two Americans, two Pakistanis and one Irish, sources told Zaman al-Wasl.

SDF has published mugshots of the five foreign fighters and provided the following names:

- Warren Christopher Clark, USA

- Alexandr Ruzmatovich Bekmirzaev, Ireland

- Zaid Abed al-Hamid, USA

- Fadel al-Rahman, Pakistan

- Abed al-Azem Rajhoud, Pakistan

The Kurds in northeastern Syria say they hold around 1,000 foreign militant fighters, as well as 550 foreign women and 1,200 children who lived with them.

They are from dozens of different nationalities and include a significant contingent from France, the main U.S. partner in the coalition assisting Kurdish forces.

The numbers of U.S. militants held by the Kurds are believed to be small.

The fate of these foreign fighters and their families is a complex and sensitive issue.

Many countries are reluctant to bring them back home while Syria's Kurds argue they do not have the capacity to keep them locked up much longer.

Since September, more than 1,000 Daesh militants have been killed in the fighting compared with just under 600 SDF members while 15,000 people have fled Hajin, according to the Observatory.

Last month U.S. President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of around 2,000 soldiers from Syria, deployed to support the SDF, claiming Daesh had been defeated.

The Syrian war, which began in 2011, has caused more than 370,000 deaths and forced millions of people to flee their homes. With AFP

(59)    (63)
Total Comments (0)

Comments About This Article

Please fill the fields below.
*code confirming note