DAMASCUS – The Kurdish-led force battling the remnants of the militantIslamic State group in eastern Syria said on Monday it captured fiveforeign fighters, including two US and as many Pakistani citizens.
The two Americans, two Pakistanis and an Irishman were part of a cellplanning an attack on civilians fleeing the militant group’s last bastion,the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said.
The SDF has spearheaded the battle against IS in eastern Syria and is closeto flushing out the militants from their last pocket near the Iraqi border.ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
The force, which receives key support in the air and on the ground from theUS military, said in a statement that the militants were captured onDecember 30.
The SDF said its forces detected “a group of terrorists who had beenpreparing to attack the civilians who were trying to get out of the warzone”.
“An operation against the cell was carried out by our forces,” it said.
It published mugshots of the five foreign fighters and provided thefollowing names: – Warren Christopher Clark, USA – Alexandr RuzmatovichBekmirzaev, Ireland – Zaid Abed al-Hamid, USA – Fadel al-Rahman, Pakistan -Abed al-Azem Rajhoud, Pakistan.
The Kurds in northeastern Syria say they hold around 1,000 foreignfighters, as well as 550 foreign women and 1,200 children who lived withthem.
They are from dozens of different nationalities and include a significantcontingent from France, the main US partner in the coalition assistingKurdish forces.
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The numbers of US militants held by the Kurds are believed to be small.
The fate of these foreign fighters and their families is a complex andsensitive issue.
Many countries are reluctant to bring them back home while Syria’s Kurdsargue they do not have the capacity to keep them locked up much longer.
The SDF, backed by coalition air strikes, has achieved major gains sincethe launch four months ago of an offensive to root out IS from the lastrump of the once-sprawling “caliphate” it proclaimed in 2014.
The militants are clinging to a handful of villages in the Euphrates RiverValley.
The largest ones are Sousa and Bahgouz, following the capture on Saturdayof Al-Shaafa, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights warmonitor. – APP/AFP
