Syria

ISIL Expels Tens of Thousands in Syria’s East

ISILThe Takfiri terrorists group, the so-called Islamis State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), has expelled around 60,000 people from their homes in Syria’s east.

The London-based “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights” said ISIL had forced out30,000 residents after seizing Shuheil on Thursday from Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

Another 30,000 residents have ISIL terroristsbeen forced from their homes in the towns of Khosham and Tabia Jazeera, also in eastern Deir Ezzor province, the Britain-based NGO said.

“Some 30,000 residents of the town of Shuheil, the former stronghold of Al-Nusra Front, have been forced out by the Islamic State,” the group said.

Though both ISIL and Al-Nusra share a Takfiri ideology, the two groups have regularly clashed, with Al-Nusra joining a coalition of armed opposition groups fighting ISIL.

ISIL has seized large swathes of territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq, declaring the land it holds to be an “Islamic caliphate”.

The Observatory said ISIL had prevented some 30,000 people from returning to their homes in two other towns in Deir Ezzor, Khosham and Tabia Jazeera, which it captured in late June.

Activists on Facebook said residents feared ISIL terrorists planned to loot their homes, and the Observatory said the large displacement had left thousands sleeping in the open, with food and water shortages.

Elsewhere in the region, the group said negotiations were under way over the fate of some 83,000 people living in three towns in Deir Ezzor after IS advances in the surrounding area.

Source: AFP

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