DAMASCUS, Jan 25 (NNN-SANA) – As many as 3,500 families have so far fled their homes, in Syria’s north-eastern province of Hasakah, amid U.S. airstrikes, and clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Daesh militants, it was reported yesterday.
The U.S. airstrikes and the clashes between the SDF and Daesh have been escalating, following the jailbreak of Daesh inmates from a Kurdish-controlled prison, in the Gweiran neighbourhood, in Hasakah, on Thursday evening.
Following the prison escape, the SDF engaged in fierce battles with the militants, inside and outside the prison, while the U.S.-led warplanes kept on targeting residential areas, where the Daesh fugitives could have fled to.
Earlier yesterday, the U.S.-led warplanes struck a university campus in Hasakah and destroyed the university’s parking lot, as part of their manhunt for the Daesh. Such a situation has pushed thousands of families to flee their homes, close to the clashes sites in Kurdish-controlled areas.
The displaced families reached government-controlled areas in Hasakah, to settle in temporary displacement shelters, as the Syrian army opened safe corridors to secure the fleeing families.
Director of Social Affairs, Ibrahim Khalaf, said, due to the increase in the number of displaced families, two new temporary shelters were opened, bringing the number of centres to five.
Khalaf pointed out that, work is underway to equip a sixth centre, in light of the continued influx of people from the southern neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, Syria’s Foreign Ministry, yesterday, held an urgent meeting of representatives from the international organisations operating in Syria, to address the crisis in Hasakah.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry repeated its demand for the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Syria.
Hasakah is largely controlled by the U.S.-backed SDF, while some certain areas, particularly the city of Qamishli, are still under the control of the Syrian government.– NNN-SANA
