Civilians flee in fear as forces advance on Daesh Syria bastion

AIN ISSA, Syria — When Saada Al Aboud saw Daesh militants bringing weaponry into her village near their Syrian bastion of Raqqa, she feared she and her family would become human shields for the extremists.

“Daesh militants brought heavy weapons to our village and stayed among us so that if there were strikes they would hit us,” the 45-year-old told AFP as she fled her village of Al Heisha.

“They wouldn’t let us leave,” she said, her lined face marked with a Bedouin chin tattoo.

“We had to escape by running out into the fields, with our children and old people. What else could we do? We left everything behind.”

Al Heisha, 40 kilometres north of Raqqa, was already controlled by Daesh, but the extremists began moving artillery there as they came under pressure from a new assault to seize their stronghold.

The US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began its operation to capture Raqqa on Saturday night, in an attempt to pressure Daesh as it faces as assault on its Iraqi bastion Mosul across the border.

So far, the SDF has advanced to within 36 kilometres of Raqqa, seizing a handful of villages from Daesh control.

The dual operations in Iraq and Syria have placed unprecedented pressure on the extremist group, which faces the prospect of losing its two largest remaining population centres, and with them its claim to a “state”.

The fighting has prompted a steady trickle of civilians to flee Daesh territory, most heading towards Ain Issa, 50 kilometres north of Raqqa and a key staging ground for the operation.

“We were afraid of the planes, and we were afraid of the IS [Daesh] fighters,” said 34-year-old Wazira Al Jeely from the village of Al Tuwaila.

The fleeing civilians, dozens of smiling children among them, arrived mostly in overstuffed pick-up trucks.

In one vehicle, Heza Attiyeh took a satisfied drag on a cigarette, which Daesh has banned in territory under its control.

“Thank God for cigarettes,” she said enthusiastically.

“Thank God, we’re done with Daesh and now we have come to safety.”