Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 346 Islamic State fighters were killed and more than 170 members of government forces had died since Tuesday in the fight over Tabqa base, making it one of the deadliest confrontations between the two groups since the start of Syria's war. The Observatory, which monitors violence in Syria through sources on the ground, said fighting raged inside the air base on Sunday. It was the Syrian army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by Islamic State, which has seized large areas of Syria and Iraq.
In nearby Raqqa city, an Islamic State stronghold, there was celebratory gunfire and several mosques announced through their loudspeakers that the base had fallen to the Islamists and cheered "God is greatest", a witness told Reuters. IS fighters displayed the severed heads of Syrian army soldiers in the city square, the witness said, adding that Syrian warplanes were heard over Raqqa following the air base attack. Earlier on Sunday the Syrian air force had bombed areas around the base. Syrian state television said that after fierce battles, the military was "regrouping".
A resident of Tabqa city touring the streets on a motorcycle waves an Islamist flag in celebration after Islamic State militants took over Tabqa air base, in nearby Raqqa city
Citing a military source, it said there was a "successful evacuation of the airport" and that the army was continuing strikes on "terrorist groups" in the area, which it said had suffered heavy losses. Syrian state media gave no figure for the number of people killed in the clashes. Islamic State had also trapped around 150 retreating Syrian soldiers in an area near the base and was believed to be holding them captive, the Observatory said.
The Syrian army sent reinforcements to the base overnight on Friday to fight Islamic State, which controls roughly a third of northern and eastern Syria. Syrian television had shown footage of army forces defending the base on Saturday who had said it was safe from Islamic State's advances. Many of the Islamic State fighters died after Syrian warplanes bombarded the area, the Observatory said.
MILITARY BASES
Babille told Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) that the massacre of members of the country’s Shiite minority occurred in the northern Iraqi village of Beshir between July 11th and 12th. The Turkmen ethnic group makes up roughly four percent of Iraq's population, according to the BBC. As members of the Shia Muslim sect, they are directly targeted by Islamic State Sunni extremists, who consider them apostates. Navi Pillay, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, warned of the increasingly desperate plight of thousands of Turkmen who have been under seige for two months in the village of Amerli, which is located about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad.
In a statement released Monday the UN reported that “at least 13,000 members of the Shia Turkmen community in Amirli in Salah al-Din Governorate, among them 10,000 women and children, have been besieged by ISIL and associated armed groups since 15 June. Residents are enduring harsh living conditions with severe food and water shortages, and a complete absence of medical services – and there are fears of a possible imminent massacre.” The high commissioner “echoed the urgent call by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq for the international community to work with the authorities to prevent a humanitarian and human rights tragedy.” The Associated Press first reported that ISIS massacred Shiite Turkmen villagers during a midday attack on Beshir, Chardaghli, Brawchi and Karanaz in northern Iraq back in June.
Shiite Turkmen in the Iraqi town of Taza Khurmatu mourn at a funeral for 15 villagers executed by ISIS terrorists
“It is not yet clear how many people were killed in the attack on the four farming villages,” the Washington Post reported at the time. “Gen. Turhan Abdel-Rahman, Kirkuk’s deputy police chief, said he knew of at least 40 slain residents — 25 from three villages who were buried Sunday, plus the 15 interred Monday, who were from the fourth town, Bashir.'There are other bodies still inside Bashir,' he said.” The high commissioner’s statement also describes a massacre of prisoners and detainees in Mosul’s Badoush Prison on June 10, which has been confirmed by The Human Rights Office of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. “According to interviews with 20 survivors and 16 witnesses of the massacre, ISIL gunmen loaded between 1,000 and 1,500 prisoners onto trucks and transported them to a nearby uninhabited area,” the statement says.
“There, armed men asked the Sunnis to separate themselves from the others. Around 100 prisoners who joined the Sunni group were suspected by ISIL not to be Sunni and were subjected to individual checks based on how they prayed and their place of origin. "Sunni inmates were ordered back on the trucks and left the scene. ISIL gunmen then yelled insults at the remaining prisoners, lined them up in four rows, ordered them to kneel and opened fire. Up to 670 prisoners were reportedly killed.” “Such cold-blooded, systematic and intentional killings of civilians, after singling them out for their religious affiliation may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the UN high commissioner said.
UN Hundreds of Turkmen Muslims Slaughtered in ISIS Religious Cleansing CNS News
