ERBIL, Kurdistan Region —Islamic State (ISIS) militants are using hundreds of Kurdish civilians in Bab village near the northern Syrian town of Manbij as human shields by forcing them to wear the group’s uniform and make them targets of air strike.
“They [ISIS] have taken the unarmed civilians and make them walk 500 meters ahead of them,” one villager says in the audio recording. “ISIS told them go ahead, if the enemy doesn’t kill you we will kill you.”
“They are all Kurmanj,” says the villager, meaning they are Kurds.
The trapped civilians are asking the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-coalition to be aware of ISIS plan.
Manbij has been under intense attacks by SDF forces on the ground and coalition fighter jets from the air for more than two weeks.
Since the start of the offensive the Kurdish-dominated SDF forces have retaken about 90 villages, and 159 ISIS militants have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
Rudaw has obtained audio clips of the villagers who say at least 500 Kurdish civilians in villages of Sorsimat, Sheikh Nassra, and Khobasha are used as human shields.
“They [ISIS] have taken the unarmed civilians and make them walk 500 meters ahead of them,” one villager says in the audio recording. “ISIS told them go ahead, if the enemy doesn’t kill you we will kill you.”
“They are all Kurmanj,” says the villager, meaning they are Kurds.
The trapped civilians are asking the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-coalition to be aware of ISIS plan.
Manbij has been under intense attacks by SDF forces on the ground and coalition fighter jets from the air for more than two weeks.
Since the start of the offensive the Kurdish-dominated SDF forces have retaken about 90 villages, and 159 ISIS militants have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
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