More than 100 fatalities in IS attack: idea.de
Al-Hasakah/Geneva (IDEA) – In late January, more than 100 people were killed in an attack by the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) on a prison in north-eastern Syria. The Islamists freed numerous inmates at the facility in the city of Al-Hasakah, where several thousand like-minded people were being held. They breached the walls of the facility using vehicles loaded with explosives.
Some of the attackers took hostages during the attack, using them as human shields. Kurdish fighters were able to retake the prison several days later. According to media reports, there is still no precise information on the number of fatalities on both sides.
According to a statement by US President Joe Biden, the leader of the IS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Kuraschi, is considered to be the mastermind behind the attack. As a result, al-Kurashi and his family blew themselves up. Al-Kurashi took over the leadership of the terrorist militia after the death of the self-proclaimed “Caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019.
CARE: Can no longer guarantee the safety of employees
The aid organization CARE International (Geneva) has temporarily suspended its humanitarian work in north-eastern Syria in response to the fighting. According to a statement from the plant, the safety of its own employees and local partners cannot currently be guaranteed.
CARE Country Director in Syria, Jolien Veldwijk, warned of a humanitarian catastrophe. The latest attacks come at a time “when the situation of the people has already reached an all-time low”. According to Veldwijk, millions of families in Syria do not know how to survive and are freezing in the cold winter. We are “deeply concerned” about what the current security situation will mean for humanitarian work in the future. “We urge all parties to end the violence so we can continue to help those in dire need of help.”
CARE has been working in north-east Syria since 2014 and has so far provided essential goods to more than a million people. Together with partner organizations, CARE distributes food, provides drinking water, builds sanitary facilities and creates emergency shelters.