Christian Fighters in Raqqa Report ISIS Using Drones to Drop Bombs

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By Bridget Johnson
A fighter of the Syriac Military Council burns an ISIS flag on the front line on the western side of Raqqa, Syria, on July 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Christian forces fighting to oust ISIS from its declared capital of Raqqa said today that while “hundreds, maybe thousands” of terrorists fled before the Syrian Democratic Forces laid siege to the city, the remaining terrorists have resorted to “dirty tactics” including dropping bombs on their forces from drones.

The Syriac Military Council (MFS), which consists of Assyrian men and women fighting alongside Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and other ethnic groups under the umbrella of the SDF, also warned that the Turkish government and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are trying to stop the SDF’s offensive by attacking the anti-ISIS coalition.

In a video message today, MFS spokesman Kino Gabriel said that the operation to “liberate the so-called caliphate of the Islamic State,” in particular the current Wrath of Euphrates operation to liberate Raqqa and surrounding territory that began in November, is going according to plan.

“The importance of this operation for us is very huge … liberating [Raqqa] would mean another step in the battle to defeat ISIS and to defeat terrorists that have been persecuting the Syrian people and its components for so long,” Gabriel said, noting that ISIS has been attacking different groups including “the Syrian Christians who have been living in different areas like Jazira, like Raqqa, Homs.”

MFS participation is important, he said, “in order to revenge the persecution that Syriac Christians have taken, to revenge the persecution that we see and that people have been living under since 2013 and 2014.”

He also emphasized the role of the Bethnahrin Women’s Protection Forces, “the Syrian women who have taken part in the operation since its first stages” who comprise the women of the MFS.

(Syriac Military Council)

“There have been several Christian families, living and still living in the city of Raqqa, some of them managed to get out and got the support of the Syriac Military Council and other groups,” Gabriel said, adding that there are “so many civilians” still trapped in Raqqa “that are still living there alongside the few Christian families,” whose status is “currently unknown.” He said the MFS is “taking different measures in order to locate those families and be able to rescue them as the operation and the offensive is continuing.”

 

The goal is to “completely liberate the city” and allow the civilian administration to take over and “get the people back again to their normal lives and to be able provide the necessary services the people need.”

“Our goal is to completely liberate Raqqa and continue fighting Daesh in the territories under its control,” he said, using the pejorative Arabic name for ISIS.

Gabriel said the MFS and allies “are trying to do our task and kick the terrorism out,” but “so far we have been attempted to stop by different forces like the Turkish state and the Turkish army alongside some Free Syrian Army groups who are affiliated with Turkey and attacking different areas that are controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.”

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2017/07/18/christian-fighters-in-raqqa-report-isis-using-drones-to-drop-bombs/