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Raqqa’s dirty secret: Hundreds of ISIS fighters allowed to escape from Syria by US Coalition
BBC ^ | 11/14/2017 | By Quentin Sommerville and Riam Dalati

Posted on 11/14/2017 11:03:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Lorry driver Abu Fawzi thought it was going to be just another job.

He drives an 18-wheeler across some of the most dangerous territory in northern Syria. Bombed-out bridges, deep desert sand, even government forces and so-called Islamic State fighters don’t stand in the way of a delivery.

But this time, his load was to be human cargo. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters opposed to IS, wanted him to lead a convoy that would take hundreds of families displaced by fighting from the town of Tabqa on the Euphrates river to a camp further north.

The job would take six hours, maximum – or at least that's what he was told.

But when he and his fellow drivers assembled their convoy early on 12 October, they realised they had been lied to.

Instead, it would take three days of hard driving, carrying a deadly cargo - hundreds of IS fighters, their families and tonnes of weapons and ammunition.

Abu Fawzi and dozens of other drivers were promised thousands of dollars for the task but it had to remain secret.

The deal to let IS fighters escape from Raqqa – de facto capital of their self-declared caliphate – had been arranged by local officials. It came after four months of fighting that left the city obliterated and almost devoid of people. It would spare lives and bring fighting to an end. The lives of the Arab, Kurdish and other fighters opposing IS would be spared.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Syria; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: is; isis; islamicstate; raqqa; syria
But it also enabled many hundreds of IS fighters to escape from the city. At the time, neither the US and British-led coalition, nor the SDF, which it backs, wanted to admit their part.

Has the pact, which stood as Raqqa’s dirty secret, unleashed a threat to the outside world - one that has enabled militants to spread far and wide across Syria and beyond?

Great pains were taken to hide it from the world. But the BBC has spoken to dozens of people who were either on the convoy, or observed it, and to the men who negotiated the deal.

1 posted on 11/14/2017 11:03:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

They should have gassed them all like rats or roaches.


2 posted on 11/14/2017 11:04:52 AM PST by ZULU (DITCH MITCH!!! DUMP RYAN!! DROP DEAD MCCAIN!! KIM FATTY the THIRD = Kim Jung Un)
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To: SeekAndFind

I feared that might happen. There should have been A 10 Warthogs circling above until nothing was left below.


3 posted on 11/14/2017 11:09:37 AM PST by Captain Jack Aubrey (There's not a moment to lose.)
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To: SeekAndFind

War is horrible and awful. But sometimes, treating a city to Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo experiences is fully justified, IMHO. This could have been one of those cases if it cleaned out 1000s of jihads and their spawn.


4 posted on 11/14/2017 11:12:01 AM PST by rigelkentaurus
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To: All

McCain’s buddies saved, to start another war in another place in another day.


5 posted on 11/14/2017 11:32:01 AM PST by LegendHasIt
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To: Me

From what I gathered from various previous articles and posts, on multiple forums, Syria allowed local Syrian jihadis to evacuate under a peace deal. Any non-Syrian jihadi in country got a death sentence and wasn’t allowed to evacuate.

Sorry if I’m off base here, let me know of other links that say otherwise.


6 posted on 11/14/2017 11:42:37 AM PST by Tailback
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To: SeekAndFind

How many were given free tickets to the US?


7 posted on 11/14/2017 11:46:08 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: SeekAndFind; Texas Fossil

It is longstanding local practice to allow withdrawals.

The reality is that the majority of ISIS in Raqqa were killed, even if some escaped.

There was also a lengthy period of orderly withdrawal of ISIS personnel from Raqqa during the months in which it was being surrounded.

Not perfect perhaps, but the battle of Raqqa was a thorough defeat for ISIS.


8 posted on 11/14/2017 12:16:45 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: Captain Jack Aubrey

Actually, coalition aircraft dropped flares to light the way for them.

I knew this would happen. They never intended to capture them and pen them up like nazi Germans at the end of WWII to sort through and conduct war crimes trials.


9 posted on 11/14/2017 12:36:01 PM PST by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ...)
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To: BeauBo

“Not perfect perhaps, but the battle of Raqqa was a thorough defeat for ISIS.”

Not only not perfect, but a disgrace. Those guys have been allowed to escape and flood back into europe. Zero effort to catch them.
And a lost chance for an object lesson to be dealt to the world of the most evil groups since WWII.


10 posted on 11/14/2017 12:38:26 PM PST by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ...)
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To: SeekAndFind
hell they had a whole convoy of them pinned down in the desert that should have been ground to dust... i am SOOOO sick of this crap
11 posted on 11/14/2017 5:01:55 PM PST by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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To: BeauBo
YPG/YPJ and Coalition wanted none to escape.

The local Arabs though otherwise and were accommodated to some extent. I was told no foreign fighters were released. Some local converts were.

They were all interrogated before release the Asayish forces interrogated them. I've been told they are very good at their job.

This was absolutely not like the BBC reported. Those reports were done for the propaganda of Turkey.

12 posted on 11/14/2017 7:01:39 PM PST by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: SeekAndFind

The BBC article is not correct.

No foreign fighters were allowed to escape from Raqqa.

There were NOT thousands who were released. Almost all were local converts and Arabs.

Neighter YPG/YPJ or the Coalition wanted any to escape. Local conscripts under death threat were considered. Local converts were considered. Those who had committed great crimes, were not released.

The BBC article is written for the benefit of Turkish Propaganda.


13 posted on 11/14/2017 7:14:28 PM PST by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: LegendHasIt

We can’t gun down CIA/Missed assets


14 posted on 11/14/2017 7:23:12 PM PST by techworker
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To: Texas Fossil

Bingo, good post. ISIS has always had more money that jihadist fighters. Most are tribal militia men from Syria and Iraq that just want to be paid.

The Kurds and ourselves understand that we now need to win the peace.


15 posted on 11/15/2017 11:31:09 AM PST by gandalftb (OK State, Go Cowboys!!)
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To: gandalftb
Thank you.

I assure you the YPG/JPJ wanted no part of releasing any without careful interrogation.

The foreign fighters were all totally evil people. None deserve to be released, ever.

Conscripts? Some had the choice, join and fight or die now.

Some of the locals did it for the money, found out quickly they made a mistake but could not leave without being killed.

Some young children were forced to support and brainwashed.

No, I have no real sympathy to any of them except the children and forced at gunpoint conscripts (many of them found a way to escape).

We do have captured records for most of the ISIS supporters. It will follow them forever. If their real identity is know, they will be exposed.

16 posted on 11/15/2017 3:50:49 PM PST by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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