War of annihilation
Yüklə 5,63 Mb. Pdf görüntüsü
|
“WAR OF ANNIHILATION” DEVASTATING TOLL ON CIVILIANS, RAQQA – SYRIA
Amnesty International 46
Satellite images showing the houses where 16 members of the Fayad family and neighbours were killed in Coalition strikes on 12 October 2017, before and after the strike.
“WAR OF ANNIHILATION” DEVASTATING TOLL ON CIVILIANS, RAQQA – SYRIA
Amnesty International 47
Maha, a 20-year-old student, said: “Me, my two sisters and my brother left with the Daesh convoy. We just followed the tail of the convoy because we did not want to miss the opportunity to get out the city. When we got out of Raqqa we went our own way.” 79
The CJTF-OIR released the following information about strikes “Against ISIS Terrorists” in Raqqa on 12 October 2017. It reported carrying out a total of 29 strikes in Raqqa that day. Near Ar Raqqah, 25 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units, suppressed one fighting position, destroyed two communications nodes, 10 fighting positions, one vehicle and one ISIS supply road. 80
Oct.12 – Near Raqqah, Syria, four strikes destroyed three ISIS lines of communication and one fighting position. 81
information: The SDF, supported by the Coalition, continue to make good progress towards the fall of Raqqah, having now cleared around 90% of the city. The RAF have played a pivotal role in this, striking 213 targets in and around Raqqah since the start of the SDF offensive. This included 2 Tornado GR4s providing close air support to the SDF in Raqqah on 12 October. A Paveway IV guided bomb was deployed to target the upper storeys of a building from which a Daesh sniper was firing, and a second weapon struck another building from which terrorists were engaged in a combat with the SDF.
82
The French Defence Ministry did not release information about its activities during the week of 12 October 2017.
79 Interview with Maha, near Raqqa, 14 February 2017. 80 Operation Inherent Resolve, “Strikes Releases – October 2017”, 20171013 Strike Release.pdf, available at http://www.inherentresolve.mil/News/Strike-Releases/ 81 Ibid, 20171014 Strike.Release.pdf 82 British Ministry of Defence, “RAF air strikes in Iraq and Syria: October 2017”, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-forces-air-strikes-in-iraq-monthly-list/october-2017
“WAR OF ANNIHILATION” DEVASTATING TOLL ON CIVILIANS, RAQQA – SYRIA
Amnesty International 48 5.
JOINT COALITION-SDF MILITARY OPERATION IN RAQQA CJTF-OIR has sought to present itself as an international Coalition with broad-based support from nations and institutions around the world. Referring to itself as “the Global Coalition”, it boasts membership of 71 countries and four inter-governmental organisations; an eclectic alliance including nations as diverse as Panama and Poland, Australia and Afghanistan. 83 Some Coalition members, Chad or example, or Niger, are likely to have given support in name only. Others, particularly European states, were more deeply involved, although the exact extent of their actions is not always clear. However, contrary to its motto, “One Mission, Many Nations”, military action taken in the name of CJTF-OIR to wrest control of Raqqa from IS was an overwhelmingly US military affair. Throughout the battle, the staff of III Corps served as the headquarters element for CJTF-OIR at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, and the campaign was led by a US three-star general, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend; the US deployed some 2,000 of its own troops to north-eastern Syria, many of whom were engaged in direct combat operations, notably firing artillery into Raqqa from positions outside the city. 84 In addition, a smaller number of special forces were operating close to front lines alongside SDF members. 85 British and French special forces were also deployed to the area, but in much smaller numbers. Among the US deployment were Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) with GPS-directed 227mm rockets, which could be fired from 300km away, 86 as well as hundreds of Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and the 24th MEU equipped with M777 howitzers, 87 which they used to rain down 155mm artillery fire upon the city from a distance of up to 30km. 88 The US military was the only 83 Operation Inherent Resolve website, available at http://theglobalcoalition.org/en/partners/ 84 “According to military officials, there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, although the official Defense Department force level is set at 503 personnel. A Defense Manpower Data Center quarterly personnel report listed about 1,700 American troops in Syria as of Sept. 30, but Pentagon officials have described that report as a snapshot of force levels that are constantly varying”, in With Raqqa fight over, 400 US Marines leaving Syria, ABC News, 30 November 2017, available at http://abcnews.go.com/International/raqqa-fight-400-us-marines- leaving-syria/story?id=51489623 and http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/06/pentagon-acknowledges-2000-troops-in-syria/. 85 “Coalition SOF are in Raqqa, and they are close to the front lines,” said Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The Americans are not ‘kicking down doors,’ Dillon added. Rather, their primary mission is to advise partner forces, though they are authorized to defend themselves.”, in “Boots on the ground: Elite U.S. troops are in Raqqa near the Islamic State’s front line”, Military Times, 9 June 2017 available at https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2017/06/09/boots-on-the-ground- elite-u-s-troops-are-in-raqqa-near-the-islamic-state-s-front-line/ 86 “US deploys long-range artillery system to southern Syria for first time”, CNN, 13 June 2017, available at https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/13/politics/us-artillery-system-southern-syria/index.html 87 “New Marine artillery unit arrives in Syria ahead of Raqqa offensive”, Marine Times, 16 May 2017, available at https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2017/05/16/new-marine-artillery-unit-arrives-in-syria-ahead-of-raqqa-offensive/ 88 “Marine artillery barrage of Raqqa was so intense two howitzers burned out”, Marine Times, 2 November 2017, available at https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/flashpoints/2017/11/02/marine-artillery-barrage-of-raqqa-was-so-intense-two-howitzers-burned-out/ Images from Syria have shown US Marines employing the low-cost XM1156 fuze kit, which turns regular high-explosive shells into GPS- guided projectiles. Reports that US forces fired HIMARS towards Raqqa, available at https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2017/6-june-reports- that-ushimars-fired-6-rockets-towards-Raqqa Yüklə 5,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|