The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

85 months of International Coalition operations in Syria | Iranian airstrikes on al-Tanaf base top the events, while nearly 65 ISIS members arrested and killed in security campaign with SDF

Completing the 85th consecutive month of military operations against the “Islamic State” in Syria, the International Coalition continues sending in military reinforcement to SDF-held areas, carrying out raids, arrests and various security operations in several areas controlled by SDF. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in turn, tracked and monitored all operations and movement of the International Coalition during the last month.

 

In the 85th month of International Coalition operations in Syria, 50 trucks and vehicles affiliated to the Coalition, carrying military and logistical supplies, crossed into Syria from Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where they headed to the Coalition’s military bases in north-east Syria region. These trucks entered Syria in one batch on October 27.

 

International Coalition Forces ran several patrols in different areas in north-east Syria region, mostly were concentrated in al-Hasakah countryside, near the Syria-Turkey border.

 

The International Coalition Forces conducted several patrols in different areas in north-east Syria, which were concentrated in al-Hasakah countryside near the Syria-Turkey border.

 

In the past month, SOHR activists also documented the participation of the International Coalition in nine joint security campaign with SDF in Deir Ezzor, al-Hasakah and al-Raqqah, including raids and an airdrop. These campaigns resulted in the arrest of 58 people, including ISIS commanders, in Abu Khashab, al-Jasimi, al-Izbah, Abu al-Naytal, al-Sha’fa, al-Zarr and other areas in Deir Ezzor province, al-Hasakah city and surrounding areas, al-Qamishli city in al-Hasakah countryside, the surrounding areas and outskirts of al-Raqqah city and the northern countryside of al-Raqqah.

 

Moreover, SOHR activists documented the death of five people in airdrops and gunfire by International Coalition Forces and Syria Democratic Forces during the security campaigns. Further details of the circumstances of the death of these people were as follows:

 

On September 26, International Coalition Forces conducted an airdrop on the outskirts of al-Shuhayl town in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, where they killed three people on charge of “belonging to ISIS” and arrested others for the same accusation.

 

On September 27, a civilian died of wounds he sustained with two other people, during the clashes on the previous day between the International Coalition and the three persons killed by the Coalition, after an airdrop by Coalition Forces in al-Zarr village in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

 

On October 2, the International Coalition conducted an airdrop in Shninah village in the north of al-Raqqah city, arresting two ISIS commanders and several women. A civilian was killed during the airdrop, after he was hit by an indiscriminate gunshot as he was near the site of the security operation.

 

 

Iranian attack on al-Tanaf base

 

On October 20, SOHR activists reported hearing explosions in al-Tanf military base of International Coalition in the evening due to drone attack which targeted the buffet, a mosque, and the depot of food supply inside the base.

 

SOHR sources confirmed that the International Coalition forces and Jaish al-Maghaweer deployed in the vicinity of al-Tanf base, coinciding with information about targeting al-Tanf base with drones, while the armed faction evacuated the base of its vehicles to transport them to other checkpoints which were prepared with mobile medical checkpoints.

 

It is worth noting that this targeting was the first of its kind for the military base.

 

After the attack, Observatory activists monitored frequent flights by International Coalition aircraft over the Coalition military base in al-Tanaf in the 55-kilometre zone in the Syrian desert, near the Syria-Jordan-Iraq border triangle. These flights aimed to survey and comb the region. SOHR sources also reported that Coalition Forces returned to the base, hours after they had been deployed nearby the base, just before the Iranian airstrikes. Meanwhile, the members of Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra were positioned in the surrounding areas of the base, and it was expected that the movement would issue a statement about the recent development.

 

 

Abductees forgotten by Coalition and SDF

 

31 months have passed since the International Coalition’s official declaration of the elimination of Islamic State as a dominating force over east of the Euphrates River. Despite all the developments that took place over the past month, the Coalition and SDF’s silence continues regarding ISIS abductees. No details on the fate of thousands of abductees are provided; and no information about the results of the interrogations of ISIS member is available, as thousands are held by SDF and the Coalition, east of the Euphrates.

 

Concerns about the abductees’ lives and fate are growing, including the fate of father Paulo Dall’Oglio, Bishop John Ibrahim, Paul Yaziji, Abdullah al-Khalil, a British journalist, Sky News journalist, and other journalists, and hundreds of abductees from Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) and Afrin and other people from Deir Ezzor.

 

 

October 2021… another month passes and no investigation into alleged Coalition massacres

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights renew its appeals to all international actors, International Coalition and SDF to announce the results of interrogations with ISIS detainees and what happened to the thousands of abductees. The Syrian Observatory had previously called upon the international community to investigate reports regarding the killing of 200 ISIS operatives and their families, women and children, in a massacre committed by the Coalition’s jets by bombing al-Baghouz camp on March 21, 2019.

 

According to SOHR sources, 200 bodies were buried at dawn on that particular day, without information as to whether the International Coalition was aware of the presence of children and women from ISIS families inside the camp or not.

 

However, all these appeals remain unanswered. Therefore, SOHR renews its appeals to all relevant parties to announce the whole facts and hold accountable those responsible for the massacres and violations over the past five years during which the Coalition were actively involved in the Syrian crisis.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, while providing adequate monitoring of Coalition operations in Syria, stresses once more that it would have been possible to avoid the heavy losses of Syrian civilian lives if the International Coalition had not ignored SOHR’s calls to spare and protect civilians from its military operations, where the presence of Islamic State militants or other jihadist groups in a civilian area does not in any way justify the blank and discriminate bombardment of area and the loss of civilian lives.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also stresses that the negative impact of Turkish military intervention on civilians could have been avoided, if the US President had applied enough pressure on his Turkish counterpart to stop a new humanitarian crisis, displacing thousands and killing and injuring hundreds.

 

On the other hand, we at SOHR would like to remind the world that the oil and gas resources, controlled by the International Coalition, belong only to the Syrian people. Therefore, all the concerned parties are obliged under international laws and norms to preserve these resources and ensure that they will not be stolen or seized in any way; these resources do not belong to the “regime”, “Iran” or any other party; they belong only to the people of Syria, who have been suffering the brutalities of an ongoing war for over nine years. SOHR also warns of repercussions of exploiting these sources, seizing them or depriving the Syrians of their rights in resources.