The “Islamic State” organization withdraws from Bzaah and Qabasin and inspection operations continue in al-Bab city and kill 7 fighters in mine explosions
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the “Islamic State” organization fully withdrew from the towns of Bzaah and Qabasin hours after they withdrew from al-Bab city, across the dusty roads that were left to them by the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them and the forces of “the Euphrates Shield and the Turkish forces in the southeast of al-Bab area, where the Turkish forces and the fighters of the factions started the operations of inspection in the towns of Qabasin and Bzaah, in conjunction with the operations of inspection as well in al-Bab city, while the town of Tedef south of al-Bab city is still under the control of the ” Islamic State “organization, reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that at least 7 fighters of the factions of “Euphrates Shield” were killed in mine explosions during the inspection operations in al-Bab city, also there are still bodies of members of the “Islamic State” organization under the ruins of the great destruction caused by the Turkish shelling on al-Bab city.
This control operation came after 16 days of violent clashes between the rebel and Islamic Factions and Turkish forces against the “Islamic State” organization, after the violent attack that was started by the first mentioned on the 7th of February 2017, while the Turkish forces and the “Euphrates Shield” had arrived on the 13th of November 2016 and managed to reach the outskirts of al-Bab city, and received the first defeat at the hands of the “Islamic State” organization on the 21st of December 2016, the successive failures were accompanied by violent and intense shelling by the Turkish forces and warplanes on the city and its countryside, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented since the start of the Turkish offensive on the 7th of February 2017, the death of 124 persons, including 38 children under the age of eighteen and 27 citizen women, they were killed by shelling by the Turkish forces and raids carried out by Turkish warplanes on al-Bab city, they are from 444 civilians at least, including 96 children under the age of eighteen and 59 citizen woman over the age of eighteen in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, they were civilians who were killed by the Turkish bombardment on al-Bab city and its countryside and on the towns of Bzaah and Tedef since the 13th of November 2016, the date of the arrival of “Euphrates Shield” to the outskirts of al-Bab city until today the 23rd of February 2017. Turkey has got on the late of 2016 the Russian green light, which allows it to advance towards al-Bab city and control it, and expelling the “Islamic State” organization from it, in the wake of the displacement of about 27 thousand persons, including more than 7 thousand fighter from the factions’ controlled square in the southwestern section of Aleppo city towards its western countryside, and because this advancement and controlling a big strategic city will allow them to prevent connecting of the democratic self-management areas together in the three provinces: “Al-Jazeerah – Kobani – Afrin”