Evacuations began Wednesday evening
The evacuation of civilians from the Shia-majority villages of Fuah and Kafriya in Syria's northwestern Idlib province is now underway after a deal was reached between Iran and Syrian armed opposition groups.
According to Anadolu Agency correspondents based in the region, evacuations began Wednesday evening with 12 ambulances ferrying injured people from both villages, followed by dozens of buses carrying civilian residents.
Under the terms of the agreement, the evacuations will coincide with the release of opposition fighters captured earlier by the Assad regime.
The bodies of over 1,200 civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, were found buried in three mass graves in Syria’s Raqqa, according to local sources.A video published on the official Twitter account of the Raqqa Civil Council's Reconstruction Committee showed bodies being extracted from mass graves. “Nearly 1,236 bodies have so far been exhumed from three mass graves that were uncovered in Raqqa, not including those buried under the rubble of homes and undisclosed locations,” a caption accompanying the photo reads.نحو 1236 جثة انتشلها #فريق_الاستجابة_الأولية حتى اللحظة من 3 مقابر جماعية اكتشفj في #الرقة.. هذا عدا عن الجثث المدفونة تحت أنقاض المنازل وفي أماكن لم يتم التعرف عليها بعد.. تفاصيل أكثر في هذا الـ #فيديو#لجنة_إعادة_الأعمار #مجلس_الرقة_المدني pic.twitter.com/d0ergJ1v9K— Raqqa Reconstruction Committee (@RaqqaRc) 16 Temmuz 2018 They’re said to have been all killed during the U.S.-led coalition’s ferocious aerial campaign against Daesh terrorists in the region, which turned the city of Raqqa to rubble.Amnesty International, a human rights group, previously warned, attacks by the U.S.-led coalition against Daesh in Syria’s Raqqa last year violated international law by endangering civilian lives.Back in April, photos showing workers extracting bodies from mass graves were posted on social media platforms.War of AnnihilationAn explosive 70-page report released by Amnesty Internatıonal back in June, titled “War of Annihilation”: Devastating Toll on Civilians, Raqqa – Syria, revealed the shocking extent of the destruction U.S.-led coalition forces have wrecked upon the city, which left thousands of civilians dead and injured. The report went on to reveal that four families lost at least 90 of their relatives and neighbors in the aftermath of U.S. bombardment on Raqqa. In June, the Coalition finally admitted to killing more than 40 civilians in airstrikes that targeted a school in Raqqa’s al-Mansourah in March 2017. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) had previously reported the case in September 2017, which was then denied by the U.S.-led coalition, keeping the report classified as “non-credible” for 15 months after it initially surfaced.Raqqa was delivered to PKK/PYD terroristsA BBC report titled “Raqqa’s dirty secret” exposed a secret deal with the U.S. that enabled hundreds of Daesh terrorists to flee Syria’s Raqqa.In October, hundreds of Daesh terrorists escaped from Raqqa following a deal with the U.S. and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK)/Democratic Union Party (PYD). The report says that the convoy included some of the terrorist organization’s “most notorious members and dozens of foreign fighters. Some of those have spread out across Syria, even making it as far as Turkey.”The report said that aircraft, including drones, followed the convoy. “When the last of the convoy were about to cross, a U.S. jet flew very low and deployed flares to light up the area,” it added.PKK/YPG imprisons Arabs in Syria’s RaqqaTwenty terrorists killed in PKK infighting in Syria’s Raqqa
Bodies of 1,236 civilians found in three mass graves in Raqqa
Opposition sources told Anadolu Agency that the deal -- struck with Iranian negotiators on Tuesday -- called for the evacuation of 6,900 people from both villages in return for the release of 1,500 detained opposition fighters.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
Yeni Safak daily obtained documents which specify significant details of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terror group’s five year-long Afrin occupation and unveils an annual revenue of over $600 million.The documents show that most of the funds were allocated to terrorist training camps as well as senior PKK officials in Syria’s al-Hasakah and the terror group’s Qandil cadre in Iraq. The documents indicate that the PKK allotted a separate budget for underground tunnels reaching 150 kilometers in length along the Turkey-Syria border.Abu Abdo, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander, stated that PKK terrorists worked for four years to construct tunnels in Shaykh al-Hadid, Jinderes, Rajo, Bulbul and Afrin.On Jan. 20, 2018, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Syria’s northwestern Afrin. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984.Senior PKK leaders pocket extra fundsThe documents show that a special budget was allocated to senior PKK terrorists including Sipan Hamo, Mahmut Berhudan, Hogar and Chekdar Mamo. A portion of the funds generated from many types of crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, fuel and cigarette smuggling and extortion are oftentimes embezzled from the PKK terror group by their own members.Afrin is a significant source of revenueThe PKK terrorists used Syria's Afrin region as a major revenue base since 2015. The so-called Afrin canton controlled the funds of Manbij, Kobani, Ras al-Ayn and Qamishli.The terror group obtains its steel, food supplies and logistic needs from regions controlled by the Assad regime, and acquires the cement it needs to construct terror tunnels from French industrial company Lafarge.PKK receives international supportU.S.-backed terrorists from the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), have been using tunnels they built in the region with cement provided by French Lafarge’s factory in Manbij.Lafarge, which maintains an operational cement factory in Manbij’s Sunaim region, was previously embroiled in a scandal after evidence detailing its dealings with Daesh terrorists was revealed.Despite the ongoing civil war in Syria, Lafarge’s factory in Manbij has not halted cement production since 2011.Syria’s so-called cantons, which are under PKK occupation, have been backed by the U.S and also Russian, German, British and French engineers.A senior PKK terrorist code-named Gabar who was neutralized by the Turkish army in 2015 had confessed that millions of dollars were stolen during the Afrin evacuation, some of which was transported to Manbij via trucks.Turkish police capture 23 suspects providing PKK terrorists with medication
PKK documents reveal $600 million revenue
Ankara warned on Thursday that it does not want the devastating scenario unfolding in Syria’s southwest to be repeated in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. “We do not want the same scenario in Syria's southwest to be experienced in Idlib,” a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.The statement went on to “strongly condemn” the regime attacks targeting de-escalation zones in southern Syria. Last month, regime forces launched a wide-ranging military operation -- supported by Russian air power – in Daraa, leading the regime and its allies to establish control over most of the country's southernmost border with Jordan in line with a cease-fire deal between Russia and armed opposition groups.The fighting has led to a major displacement crisis, with an estimated 350,000 civilians fleeing Daraa in recent days towards areas near the Jordanian border.Following peace talks held last year in Kazakh capital Astana, Daraa was designated a “de-escalation zone” in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited. Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.Turkish army conducts 16th round of patrols in ManbijSyrian opposition, regime allies to exchange hostagesSyrian regime barrel bomb attack on school kills 10 civilians in Quneitra
Turkey warns against repeating SW scenario in Syria’s Idlib