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ISIS Abducts Hundreds in Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor

Amid intense fighting between the Islamic State and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the group abducted hundreds of displaced people from the Hajin camp reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
ISIS Abducts Hundreds in Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor

The Islamic State group stormed a settlement for displaced people in eastern Syria and abducted scores, in the latest attack by the extremists on civilians.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a war monitor announced the abductions at the Hajin camp in the eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor on Saturday.

The SDF said in a statement that the fighting on Friday in the camp for the displaced left 20 ISIS gunmen and "several" SDF fighters dead.

The Kurdish dominated force added that ISIS gunmen seized civilians by force and took them to areas in the last pocket of territory they control in the region.

Deir ez-Zor has been witnessing days of intense clashes between ISIS and the SDF amid bad weather and low visibility.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said as many as 130 families were abducted by the extremists.

The SOHR warned that ISIS might kill them.

It added that the families are mostly made up of foreign women, including widows of ISIS members who had been killed earlier in the Syrian war.

Since ISIS lost most of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq over the past two years, the extremists have been resorting to attacks on civilians.

The area of Friday's attack is on the edge of the last pocket held by ISIS in Syria.

Intense fighting has been ongoing in the area since Wednesday, amid a sandstorm.

Not counting the dead in the camp for the displaced, the SOHR said the fighting in the area in the past three days killed 37 SDF fighters and 58 ISIS gunmen.

The SDF launched an offensive to regain control of the last ISIS-held pockets of territory last month.

 

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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