Residents of the town of Al-Bab in northern rural Aleppo on Monday held a protest to demonstrate solidarity with civilians who are still trapped in the city of Deir Ezzor.
The demonstrators marched through the town, chanting slogans that called for rescuing civilians currently trapped in the parts of Deir Ezzor that are still under the control ISIS and which are encircled by regime forces.
Demonstrators held placards reading ‘save those who remained;’ ‘people of Deir Ezzor are stuck between SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) militias and regime forces;’ and ‘Assad regime is murdering our children.’
Hundreds of civilians are currently besieged by the Assad regime in Hawijat Qatie, the ISIS’s last remaining part of the city. Regime forces have threatened they will annihilate the pocket if civilians and ISIS militants trapped inside refuse to surrender themselves within hours.
Over 400,000 civilians have been displaced as a result of fighting between regime forces and ISIS west of the Euphrates River, and between ISIS and the SDF militia east of the river in recent weeks. Hundreds of civilians were killed in Russian and Assad regime airstrikes which targeted civilian homes and crossing points on the Euphrates River.
The Syrian Coalition last week reiterated its calls on the UN Security Council and UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura to take the necessary measures to rescue civilians trapped in Deir Ezzor through the opening of safe passages and to stop the crimes being committed against them. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
