Fears grow for civilians in strife-hit Syria, Iraq

BEIRUT — International concern mounted Saturday for civilians caught up in fighting in Syria and Iraq as US-backed forces pressed simultaneous offensives against the Daesh terror group in both countries.

Around 165,000 displaced Syrians were trapped between the closed Turkish border and the northern town of Azaz, the United Nations said, after Daesh launched a lightning advance in Aleppo province. 

Further east, a Kurdish-Arab alliance backed by the US-led coalition against Daesh pressed an offensive against the militants north of their de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa.

The city is home to an estimated 300,000 people who are increasingly desperate according to activists.

In neighbouring Iraq, an estimated 50,000 civilians remained trapped in Fallujah after US-backed Iraqi forces this week launched an offensive to retake the city from Daesh.

The United Nations refugee agency said Saturday it was "deeply concerned about the plight of around 165,000 displaced people reportedly massing near the Syrian town of Azaz in northern Syria".

"People have started to flee due to heavy fighting in northern Aleppo. Fleeing civilians are being caught in cross-fire and are facing challenges to access medical services, food, water and safety," it said.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of protests against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Peace talks aimed at ending the conflict stalled last month over the opposition's frustration at escalating violence and lack of humanitarian access.

Immediate protection

A leading opposition group, the National Coalition, on Saturday called on the international community to ensure the "urgent and immediate protection of civilians in all areas" under attack by Daesh and the regime.

In northern Aleppo, heavy fighting between Daesh and rebels gripped the outskirts of the opposition-held town of Marea on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an activist said, besieging around 15,000 residents there.

Daesh swept through rebel-held territory in Aleppo province early Friday in a shock offensive, cutting off the main road between Marea and Azaz. 

Maamoun Khateeb, a journalist and activist from Azaz, told AFP that Daesh attacked Marea early Saturday mainly from the east and north using tanks and two car bombs.

"The situation of the displaced in the Azaz area is really bad," he said.

"Their suffering will not end while the Turkish border remains closed and the fighting continues nearby." 

The two towns have been vital stops along a rebel supply route from Turkey since they fell to opposition forces in 2012.

Further east, warplanes from the US-led coalition conducted air strikes on Daesh positions north of Raqqa city, killing 45 Daesh militants, observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

But the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the extremist group, were struggling to make further progress on Saturday, five days into the offensive, he said.
The Syrian Defence Forces have not released a tally of casualties among their forces.

Weapon of war 

In Raqqa city, residents have been paying smugglers $400 (350 euros) each to try to escape after Daesh tightened restrictions on people leaving the city, the anti-Daesh activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently has said.

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said on Friday a total of 592,700 Syrians were living under siege, an increase of around 75,000 from a previous estimate.

He told the Security Council that the use of siege and starvation as a weapon of war was "reprehensible" and "must stop immediately".

The United Nations is preparing to begin humanitarian air drops over besieged areas starting on June 1, after its repeated demands for access to the blockaded towns were refused.

In neighbouring Iraq, the Daesh-held city of Fallujah has been surrounded by pro-government forces for months and humanitarian groups have expressed concern that residents were being deliberately starved.

Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director, on Friday said the situation inside Fallujah was getting "critical by the day".

Despite plans before the operation for safe corridors, few civilians have managed to flee the Fallujah battle in recent days.

Iraqi forces evacuated 460 people — mostly women and children — on Friday, a senior police officer said.

Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall out of government control in January 2014, and, along with Mosul, is one of only two major Iraqi cities still controlled by Daesh.