Continuous displacement movement from the northern countryside of Al-Raqqah due to the fear of renewed bombardment by coalition after the massacre of Heisha
Al-Raqqah Province, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:
The vicinity of Heisha village and Khniz village in the northern countryside of Al-Raqqah and other areas in the same countryside are still witnessing continuous clashes between The Syria Democratic Forces backed by the warplanes of the International Coalition against of the “Islamic State, where SDF are trying to advance further and control more areas to advance toward the city of Al-Raqqah, in an attempt to isolate it from its eastern and northern countryside, in preparation to take control of it and expel the” Islamic state “out of the city which is their stronghold, and the clashes were accompanied by exchange of shelling between members of the organization and SDF, and information about more casualties in their ranks, amid a new advancement for the Syria Democratic Forces in a hill in the area, where it rose to 19 at least, the number of farms and villages controlled by the forces since the start of Al-Raqqah isolation battle, in the 6th of November 2016, in conjunction with intensive targeting by the warplanes of the international coalition on areas at Khnizat village in the countryside of Al-Raqqah, also the villages of al-Kalta and al-Abbara witnessed displacement movement for people, accompanied with targeting by the organization of water tanks in both villages.
Yesterday night the 8th of November was difficult and tragic to the residents of Heisha village which is about 40 kilometers away from Al-Raqqah to the north, where more than 20 families of them reached the city of Al-Raqqah, after hours of walking through villages and the roads of the northern countryside which is observed by the warplanes of the coalition.
Several residents told the sources and activists of the Syrian Observatory for human rights in Al-Raqqah city the details of the terrifying night, one of them said:
“we were sitting in our homes in the village of Heisha, and the coalition’s warplanes -as we got used to them- were flying in the sky of the village back and forth, and they were not showing any kind of provocation to the people of the village, but it was only minutes, when these warplanes raided with their missiles on the village, and started targeting the center of the village with rockets that caused explosions shocked the area, and the villagers rushed out -especially those in the houses at the outskirts of the village- to try to flee with their children to a safe haven, shielding them from the death by the missiles of the warplanes which used to fly over their heads without being targeted”
Another one of them said:
“those who got out of the village could not get to anywhere, it was only minutes after getting out of their homes, carrying their children, not knowing any destination to go to, until the Coalition’s warplanes took them off guard with electrical shocks”
then the group continue and said:
“These warplanes remained flying in the sky of the village for about 15 minutes, in conjunction with their besiege to the village, by targeting its surroundings with heavy machine guns and electrical shocks, and one of the families were killed by the machineguns fire of the coalition’s warplanes”
Another one concluded by saying:
“We could not recover all bodies, and we still do not know where some of our relatives are, we do not know if they were killed, injured or managed to escape to another destination, and there maybe still bodies under the rubble of the houses which were destroyed by the warplanes in the village, and we were displaced out of fear of targeting the village again.”
The activists of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in the city of Al-Raqqah monitored the “Islamic State” transfer families that arrived to the city of Al-Raqqah from the village of Heisha and other areas in the countryside of Al-Raqqah, and then they distributed them to schools and shelter centers in the city, while the city of Al-Raqqah is witnessing discontent among the citizens, amid fears of the developments of Al-Raqqah battle, which aims to isolate the city from its countryside, preparing to control it and expel the “Islamic State” out of it, and some said: “” This is our situation now… if Daesh didn’t displace us the Coalition will.””