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July 14, 2017

Syria: Families Flee Raqqa as U.S.-Backed Assault Intensifies
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In Syria, the United Nations warned Thursday of a mass exodus of
civilians from the city of Raqqa, as a U.S.-supported offensive against
ISIS intensifies. A senior U.N. official said fighting has displaced
nearly a quarter-million people in the region, most of them fleeing in
the last few weeks. Those arriving in camps for the displaced described
desperate conditions.

Abo Nasha'at: "I am from Mansoura, west of Raqqa. The shelling didn't
stop, and ISIS wouldn't let us leave. There was no food, no bread, no
drinking water-absolutely nothing."

The journalistic monitoring group Airwars reported U.S.-led coalition
airstrikes in recent days killed at least six civilians in Raqqa and 11
civilians in al-Zaynat village, while at least four civilians died in
airstrikes in Deir ez-Zor, with another 30 injured.


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