Call for Solidarity with Efrîn

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Call for Solidarity with Efrîn Call for Solidarity with Efrîn 12.03.2018 Preface This document includes declaration of several NGO’s and humanitarian organizations. Contents - NGOs and Humanitarian Actors signed on the statement. - Efrîn - Detailed file on the committed massacres done by the Turkish airstrikes and its allies on Efrîn. - Suspirations of using chemical weapons in Efrîn. - Civilian suffers in photos - Documented Victims in the period 20.1.2018 until 23.2.2018 - Detailed document on children victims of Turkish attacks on Efrîn. - Detailed document about women women victims o Turkish attacks on Efrîn. - Report about Basuteh massacre. - Attachment (signs and stamps of the NGOs) Annex - Map of the Efrîn 2 We the undersigning NGOs and humanitarian organizations, on the basis of the following statements and documentation reported by the Kurdish Red Crescent and other Humanitarian actors, deplore the aggression moved by Turkey against Efrîn region in north Syria, from where we get reports showing that the violations of human rights have reached to tragic levels. There are evidents that the Turkish state is braking international law and opposing the international conventions and resolutions during the ongoing massacres against the indigenous peoples of the region and also against the persons displaced in the same area. The Turkish state and some Free Syrian Army groups started this military attack on the 20th of January 2018 with an intensive shelling by Turkish warplanes, targeting both military sites and civil buildings in Efrîn such as houses, schools and hospitals. The Kurdish Red Crescent documented the death of 227 civilians, among those 32 child and 28 women, and 651 civilian are injured, among those 87 children and 93 women, due to Turkish attacks until 26’th of February. Moreover, others major attacks by tanks and other heavy weapons from the Turkey’s soil at the border with Syria, are targeting the Northern, Eastern and Western areas of Efrîn region, causing massive displacement within the region and many civillian casualties. According to UN, in the first 2 weeks of Turkish attack, more than 16.000 have been displaced due to the bombardments, and the number was increased until the end of February. All Efrîn area is facing a very serious humanitarian crisis because of these attacks, with the direct consequence of a lot of innocent people being massacred or were being badly injured and many others were displaced or lost their houses. There are grave concerns for the civilians who are in the remote areas and who lack access to healthcare, shelter and food. We also observed a rising number of psychilogical disorders- like post-traumatic stress disorder, especially among children – that are deeply affected by the ongoing attack. The Kurdish Red Crescent and other humanitarian actors reported that there are still died bodies (civilians and military) those have not been evacuated, because the targeting from the Turkish side and FSA, and the last targeting on the humanitarian actor was on the IRCC and SARC convoy on 1st of March. Although the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday 24th of February in favor of a 30-day cease-fire in Syria under 2401, this has not been applied neither in Gouta nor in Efrîn. 3 Between 24th of February and 1st of March, according to the Kurdish Red Crescent there were 118 casiulties in Efrîn 36 died and 82 injured, including Civilians and military cases. Since we are working closely in North Syria and we see how the humanitarian crisis is developing, we call for immediate cessation of the Turkish aggression with the Free Syrian Groups battalions accompanying them on the area of Efrîn. 4 Names of the NGOs and Humanitarian organizations Countries Name E - Mail Italy-Syria Associazione Sarda Contro [email protected] l'Emarginazione Syria-KRI Heyva Sor a Kurd (Kurdish Red [email protected] Crescent) Syria-Italy Gruppo Umana Solidarietà [email protected] Germany-Syria Medicine For Rojava [email protected] Italy Staffetta Sanitaria [email protected] Syria Human Right organization in Jazira [email protected] Syria Shar for Development [email protected] Holland-Syria- Psychiaters zonder grenzen [email protected] KRI Syria Peace She leaders Network [email protected] Syria Dost Charity [email protected] Syria RÊ for Rehabitiation and Devlopment [email protected] Syria Ground organization [email protected] Syria-France Kurd Bê Sînor MehranPı[email protected] Germany-Syria Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê [email protected] Syria Weqfa Jina Azad [email protected] Syria Rojava Organization for Humanitarin [email protected] and Devlopement Syria Sara organization against women violance Syria Beledna NGO B.C.S. Syria Yezidi Cultural and society assembly Syria Sulav organizaton for Civil activities Syria Kurdish Tripe association in Jazira 5 Syria Smart center for Development [email protected] Human and Mental Health Syria Mitan [email protected] Syria Youth Activity Organization [email protected] IRAQ Civil Devolopment Organization Syria Genmard Charity [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] SOHSD Iraq-Kurdistan International Federazione Iraq [email protected] Refugees - Kurdistan HeciEfrî[email protected] Nadia Murad Basee – UNODC [email protected] Goodwill Ambassador Germany ZÊD – Zentralrat der Êzîden in [email protected] Deutschland 6 EFRÎN Efrîn is a district, as well as a city, that is 40 Kilometers to the North West and has become part of self-autonomous rule since its establishment in 2012. Later it became part of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, declared in 2016. The region’s population was nearly 500,000 before 2011. It is composed of many towns and about 380 vilages. After 2011 and due to massive military operations between the regime and the opposition in Idlib and Northern Aleppo suburbs - in addition to the fall of opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo city to the regime in December 2016 - the area was considered safe for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from many areas all over Syria. The number of IDPs is roughly 250,000, in addition to many families from the region who used to live in Aleppo before 2011. The current unconfirmed number of the civilians in Efrîn region is around 800,000 people including IDPs. Despite many battles between the SDF that control the area, and some Islamist (including AQ’s Nusra front) and other armed groups, the SDF always maintained its control over the region since it took over in 2012. The Causes of Emigration to Efrîn Province Efrîn is located in the northwestern corner of Syria, and it is 60 Km away from the Aleppo province. Emigration to the province began since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, because of the clashes between the Syrian regime and the free army. With the intensification of the conflict, the flow of refugees to the province increased to more than 300,000 IDPs, coming from various Syrian regions near Efrîn (such as Aleppo, Hamma, Al-Raqqa, Idlib, Kobani, Izaz, Al-Tabqqa, Ihzer, Tel Hasel, Tel Aaran, Kefr Naya) and other regions. IDPs distributed to the villages, cities of Efrîn and the shelters as follows: in the province center: 143505 IDPs. in Sherawa area: 76005 IDPs. in Jendres area: 43510 IDPs. in Rajo area: 6970 IDPs. in Shran area: 10105 IDPs. in Shekh Al-Hadid area: 780 IDPs. 8 in Bilbil area: 1645 IDPs. in Maabtli area: 2207 IDPs. The total number of the confirmed registered are 284,727 IDPs. DETAILED FILE ON THE COMMITTED MASSACRES DONE BY THE TURKISH AIRSTRIKES WITH ITS ALLIED FORCES ON EFRÎN The first massacre in the first day of the Turkish airstrikes 20\1\2018: The Turkish military airstrikes targeted Efrîn city at around four o'clock afternoon in Turneda village several times. The attacks caused damages in people's houses and souls, which led to a terrible massacre and several families were displaced to Efrîn from Idlib. Unfortunately most of the families have lost some members of their families during these attacks. During these attacks, Hemada family were surprised by the sounds of the Turkish airplanes. The kids went out to see what was going on, but when the mother rushed to get her children in, she saw them on the ground with their organs out of their bodies. The nine-year old Yehya Hemeda died; even though the doctors tried hard to rescue him. His brother Khaled Hemeda who was eleven years old suffered from very bad injuries in abdomen and his situation is critical. Not to mention the injured member in the family. 9 The second massacre in the second day of the Turkish airstrikes 21\1\2018: In the second day of the Turkish airstrikes on Efrîn, Al-Hussien family in Jilboul town in Sherwa district, was the target of Turkish shells. This miserable family who consists of three families together came from Idlib to Maaret Nouman town, as IDPs migrating because of the conflict in their area to Efrîn region, looking for a safer life and shelter for their children. The family managed to get a house in Jilboul village and ran a ranch for chickens, but the family faced a very awful massacre leaving 24 person injured among them 11 died and 8 wounded and 5 missing members, most of them were children and women. The victims are: 1.Wael Al-Hussein one- year old. 2.Salma Al-Hussein six years old. 3.Mousab Al- Hussein six years old. 4.Ghaliya Al-Hussein eight years old. 5.Hedel Al-Hussein ten years old. 6.Ahmed Al-Hussein seventeen years old. 7.Rehef Al-Hussein thirty three years old. 8.Bedar Al-Hussein twenty four years old. 9.unknown person 10.Emad Shamo twenty nine years old. 11.Ahmed Rehmano thirty seven years old The wounded are: 1.Guma Mohemmed Al-Hussein seventeen years old.
Recommended publications
  • Of Iraq's Kirkuk
    INSTITUT KURDDE PARIS E Information and liaison bulletin N° 392 NOVEMBER 2017 The publication of this Bulletin enjoys a subsidy from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Culture This bulletin is issued in French and English Price per issue : France: 6 € — Abroad : 7,5 € Annual subscribtion (12 issues) France : 60 € — Elsewhere : 75 € Monthly review Directeur de la publication : Mohamad HASSAN Misen en page et maquette : Ṣerefettin ISBN 0761 1285 INSTITUT KURDE, 106, rue La Fayette - 75010 PARIS Tel. : 01-48 24 64 64 - Fax : 01-48 24 64 66 www.fikp.org E-mail: bulletin@fikp.org Information and liaison bulletin Kurdish Institute of Paris Bulletin N° 392 November 2017 • ROJAVA: PREPARING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE • TURKEY: THE REPRESSION EXPANDS TO LIBER- AL CIRCLES; THE VIOLENCE IS INCREASING • IRAQI KURDISTAN: UNCONSTITUTIONAL DEMANDS FROM BAGHDAD, ARABISATION OF KIRKUK RESTARTED ROJAVA: PREPARING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. broad the “World Day for beginning to return to Raqqa, liber- the 17th with a suicide attack on a Kobani” was celebrated ated on 17th October. Regarding checkpoint that caused at least 35 on 1st November largely Deir Ezzor, the SDF fighters from victims in the Northeast of Deir as a symbol of this Syrian the “Jezirah Storm” operation, Ezzor Province, between the hydro- A Kurdish town’s unremit- launched on 9th September, liberated carbon fields of Conoco and Jafra. It ting resistance to the attack 7 villages near the town and about was, nevertheless, not able to pre- launched by ISIS in 2014 with fifteen km from the Iraqi borders, vent the SDF from reaching the Iraqi Turkish connivance.
    [Show full text]
  • JM 2016.08.31 US in Syria
    The US fatal mistake in northern Syria By Joe Macaron August 31, 2016 The moment the Turkish incursion into Syrian Territory began on August 24, the stage was set for a looming direct military confrontation between Ankara and Kurdish forces in northern Syria. The US attempt to play both sides of the fence in a volatile conflict is unravelling now and Washington once again has overestimated its ability to shape the Middle East’s political dynamics. The US and Turkey appear to have agreed on the general principle of having a “safe zone” over northern Syria, however the discord that prevented this move centers around actual control on the ground. The strained relation between the two countries following the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey prompted Washington to concede on one of Ankara’s major demands: preventing a Kurdish corridor on its border. Hence, the White House surprisingly decided to walk this tightrope in northern Syria, adding further confusion to an already faltering US policy. As Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Ankara, Turkish and American warplanes were pounding the Syrian border allowing a coalition of Turkish troops, the Free Syrian Army and Turkmen fighters to reach Jarablus within 12 hours. “We have made it clear to Kurdish forces that they must move back across the (Euphrates) river. They cannot and will not get American support if they do not keep that commitment,” affirmed Biden while giving no indication at all that Washington has any reservation about this incursion. Indeed, the US not only carried out surveillance flights and targeted the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, but also advised the Turkish military in planning the incursion.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection with United States Military Operations in 2019
    UNCLASSIFIED Department of Defense Annual Report on Civilian Casualties In Connection With United States Military Operations in 2019 Submitted pursuant to Section 1057 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91), as amended The estimated cost of this report for the Department of Defense is approximately $20,000 for the 2020 Fiscal Year. This includes $25 in expenses and $20,000 in DoD labor. Generated on 2020April22 A-60DF323 1 UNCLASSIFIED Section 1057 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115- 91), as amended, states the following: Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than May 1 each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on civilian casualties caused as a result of United States military operations during the preceding year. (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) shall set forth the following: (1) A list of all the United States military operations, including each specific mission, strike, engagement, raid, or incident, during the year covered by such report that were confirmed, or reasonably suspected, to have resulted in civilian casualties. (2) For each military operation listed pursuant to paragraph (1), each of the following: (A) The date. (B) The location. (C) An identification of whether the operation occurred inside or outside of a declared theater of active armed conflict. (D) The type of operation. (E) An assessment of the number of civilian and enemy combatant casualties, including a differentiation between those killed and those injured.
    [Show full text]
  • A Perspective on Syria
    Internal bulletin – rs21 National Meeting 9 June – 10 June 2018 A perspective on Syria The Steering Group In 2011 Syrians engaged in some of the largest mass democratic protests in the country’s recent history. In what was viewed across the Arab world as a continuation of the ‘Arab Spring’, initially catalysed by the Tunisian Revolution, hundreds of thousands of Syrians took part in protests calling for greater civil liberties and an end to the Assad regime. Background – Syrian Ba’athism before the revolution In hindsight, it is easy to see why the protests happened when they did and on the scale that they did. For decades previously the policy of the ruling Ba’ath Party in Syria had been to suppress independent organisations in Syrian civil society by incorporating them within the state and offering financial incentives to maintain compliance from trade union bureaucracies, as well as making welfare provision dependent upon membership of state- monitored organisations. In the early 2000s a series of shocks to the Syrian economy threatened the viability of this model, and austerity measures of the regime weakened the stranglehold over Syrian civil society. Nevertheless, the Assad regime maintained an enormous state surveillance apparatus and a grotesque network of prisons, where political prisoners were, and continue to be, tortured. The Ba’athist policy in Syria pursued by the Assad Government - in which many key posts are held by members of the minority Alawite sect - was one of formal equality for ethnic minorities. Alawites in particular were a specifically persecuted group prior to the Assad regime, and much of the support for the regime from minority groups in the Syrian conflict can be attributed to fears of a loss of status if the regime falls.
    [Show full text]
  • Returning Foreign Terrorists: What Type of Security Challenges Are
    Violent Extremism Keys Returning Foreign Terrorists: What Type of Security Challenges Are They Posing? Violent Extremism Dr Eman Ragab It is estimated that the cohort of foreign terrorists Expert in Regional Security who joined ISIS since 2014 represents around 50% Acting Head of Security and Military Studies Unit, of the organization, with varying fighting experience, al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies as some of them acted as foot soldiers or middle- or (ACPSS), Cairo very high-ranking officers.3 It is noticeable that most of the efforts being done to counter the recent flow of foreign terrorists fol- The recent reverse flow of foreign terrorist fighters1 lowing the Battle of Raqqa is focusing on one as- out of Syria and Iraq following the declared defeat of pect of that flow, which is the reverse flow to home ISIS is dominating academic and policy circles not countries, known as the ‘returnees.’ This aspect is only in Europe but in the Middle East as well. Ac- inspired by ISIS’ strategy of ‘remaining and ex- cording to the 2017 Euromed Survey of Experts and panding,’ which is based on the creation of new Actors, an average of 61% of respondents from theatres of action4 guided by ISIS spokesman both regions agree that foreign terrorists are repre- Abu Muhammad al-Adnani’s call in September 87 senting the biggest threat posed by violent extrem- 2014 for “all supporters who could not join the ca- ism. The number of respondents from Tunisia, Alge- liphate to attack the enemy wherever they could, ria, Morocco and France agreeing with that statement and with whatever means, without waiting for in- are more than other countries.2 structions.” These perceptions can be justified in light of the This article argues that there are other aspects of number of foreign terrorist fighters who joined ISIS that flow that raise other challenges to national and and other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq.
    [Show full text]
  • <V[Czhr] `E Μ9raaz Vdd¶ E`Fc Xfzuv W`C >V]R ZR
    = >"? !"? ? (*$#(% +,-. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015 0. 1 !' 2 (() 34 0! - -- 9-/1- .9$. 7)8 8-)&98-1) : &)) &-6 )) .- 8)&%9) 98) ;<% /9 8-18--- !" / 01/ 02023 ,4. + $ %'( $) QR were to welcome Melania at the school and brief her about rationale behind introduction of “happiness classes” as well as the Delhi Government’s over- all reform initiatives in the edu- !" " P$% cation sector, officials said. Q ' ( “Names of Kejriwal and " " --./) Sisodia have been dropped " )*)* + " Kejriwal and Sisodia from the from the list of invitees. We do % " "( ames of Delhi Chief list. The comments actually not know who will receive and NMinister Arvind Kejriwal indicated that there is some- brief the First Lady about hap- (,"-". and his deputy Manish Sisodia thing fishy,” Bhardwaj claimed. piness classes when she visits # % * " L" are missing from the guest list According to the original our school,” said a Delhi &' ()* + * L for the February 25 event when schedule, Kejriwal and Sisodia Government official. ! " US First Lady Melania Trump " " is scheduled to visit a Delhi ) ( Government school in the * 0 ' % national Capital to watch “hap- ( piness classes” and interact OP with the students, sources said. "" (3 "" " The
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian Actions Against the Jihadist Movements and Turkish-U.S
    ISPSW Strategy Series: Focus on Defense and International Security Issue The Evolution of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian Actions Against the No. 394 Jihadist Movements and Turkish-U.S. Responses Jan 2016 Yossef Bodansky The Evolution of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian Actions Against the Jihadist Movements and Turkish-U.S. Responses Yossef Bodansky January 2016 Abstract Almost three months into the Russian military intervention in Syria and Iraq - a clear strategy has emerged. Russia is spearheading a regional allied effort to consolidate tangible gains - to stabilize the lines before Winter freezes the fighting. When fighting resume in early Spring 2016, the Jihadist forces will no longer be able to threaten the Fertile Crescent of Minorities and the buffer areas surrounding Shiite Iraq. Emboldened, better equipped and retrained - the forces allied with Russia will then be able to go on the strategic offensive under a unified master-plan. In mid-October, the Kremlin clarified that the Russian strategic-political objectives in Syria are to stabilize and consolidate the Assad administration as the key to defeating the Jihadist forces, as well as to compel the US-led West to accept and acknowledge this reality. For the Kremlin, all anti-Assad forces are terrorists. In mid-November, Putin returned to Moscow from the G-20 summit convinced that any attempt to deal with Obama was an exercise in futility and that a major face-off, even crisis, over Syria was only a question of time. Hence, the Kremlin resolved to seize the strategic initiative. Thus, the Russian military intervention has already had a profound impact on the region’s strategic-political posture.
    [Show full text]
  • The Latest Aleppo Battle May Give the Islamic State Another Reprieve | the Washington Institute
    MENU Policy Analysis / PolicyWatch 2611 The Latest Aleppo Battle May Give the Islamic State Another Reprieve by Fabrice Balanche Apr 26, 2016 Also available in Arabic ABOUT THE AUTHORS Fabrice Balanche Fabrice Balanche, an associate professor and research director at the University of Lyon 2, is an adjunct fellow at The Washington Institute. Brief Analysis Aside from President Obama, none of the main players in Syria has an interest in rushing toward Raqqa, so they will likely focus on exploiting the various campaigns around Aleppo instead. espite the ongoing peace negotiations in Geneva, each camp in the Syria war is preparing for a general D resumption of hostilities in the Aleppo area. In addition to the strategically important city itself, the Islamic State-occupied territory between Aleppo and the Euphrates is increasingly becoming a focal point, shifting attention away from the group's stronghold to the east and likely further delaying the Obama administration's goal of pushing IS out of its "capital" in Raqqa. CONTINUED ENCIRCLEMENT O n February 27, a ceasefire temporarily halted the Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian army campaign to encircle the rebel-held portions of Aleppo city. By that point, the army had already cut the road to the border town of Azaz with the cooperation of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD (see PolicyWatch 2554, "The Battle of Aleppo Is the Center of the Syrian Chessboard"). That resulted in a hostile reaction from Turkey, which fired on the Kurdish militia to prevent it from taking Azaz city and the nearby Bab al-Salam crossing point.
    [Show full text]
  • The Syrian Opposition
    www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 0 The Outcomes of the Syrian Crisis During 2017 between necessity and making deals www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 1 The Outcomes of the Syrian Crisis During 2017 between necessity and making deals www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 2 Contents Preface ........................................................................................................ 3 First: The Military Outcome ....................................................................... 3 The Turkish Intervention ........................................................................ 4 The Battle of Raqqa ................................................................................ 4 The Course of Astana has changed the Situation in Syria ..................... 5 The Inter-Factional Scene ....................................................................... 5 Second: The Political Outcome .................................................................. 6 The International Actors ......................................................................... 6 The Syrian Opposition ............................................................................ 7 The Course of Geneva Negotiations ....................................................... 8 The Future of the Syrian Crisis in 2018 ..................................................... 8 The Outcomes of the Syrian Crisis During 2017 between necessity and making deals www.jusoor.co Analytical Report 3 Preface The year 2017 has witnessed dramatic changes in the Syrian arena after many
    [Show full text]
  • Isis's Insurgency Strategy
    OUT OF THE DESERT ISIS’S STRATEGY FOR A LONG WAR HASSAN HASSAN SEPTEMBER 2018 POLICY PAPER 2018-8 CONTENTS * SUMMARY * KEY POINTS * 1 INTRODUCTION * 2 ISIS’S FORMULA FOR SURVIVAL * 4 ISIS’S INSURGENCY STRATEGY * 8 RETREATING TO RURAL AREAS * 14 RECOVERY SIGNS * 17 WRONG LESSONS LEARNED? * 19 CONCLUSION * 21 ENDNOTES * 23 ABOUT THE AUTHOR * 24 ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE © The Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute 1319 18th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036 SUMMARY The collapse of ISIS’s caliphate and its subsequent flight from much of its former territory has been a triumph for the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq and Syria. However, for ISIS, expulsion from former urban strongholds is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another: the group has since rolled out a well-developed strategy to assure its future resurgence. This paper examines ISIS’s actions, publications, and communications to determine its insurgency strategies and long-term organizational outlook, emphasizing sources that have been largely overlooked by forces fighting the group. By analyzing the strategies ISIS uses and has used in its previous incarnations, this paper argues that insurgent groups like ISIS will continute to operate within the ungoverned space along the Syria-Iraq border, and that if left unchecked, the group is likely to re-emerge. KEY POINTS * The contiguous terrain linking Iraq and Syria provides an ideal space for jihadis to endure, entrench, and emerge again. * ISIS’s post-caliphate strategy is to target Sunnis that collaborate with government forces or other insurgent groups using hit-and- run tactics and targeted assassinations, using as its base desert areas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Blast Wounded of Raqqa, Syria: Observational Results from An
    OKeeffe et al. Conflict and Health (2019) 13:28 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-019-0214-0 RESEARCH Open Access The blast wounded of Raqqa, Syria: observational results from an MSF- supported district hospital Jennifer OKeeffe1, Larissa Vernier1, Vanessa Cramond1, Shazeer Majeed1, Antonio Isidro Carrion Martin3* , Maartje Hoetjes2 and Mohana Amirtharajah2 Abstract Background: In June 2017, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a military operation to retake the city of Raqqa, Syria, from the so-called Islamic State. The city population incurred mass numbers of wounded. In the post-offensive period, the population returned to a city (Raqqa) contaminated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and explosive remnants of war (ERWs), resulting in a second wave of wounded patients. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported a hospital in Tal-Abyad (north of Raqqa) and scaled up operations in response to this crisis. We describe the cohort of blast-wounded cases admitted to this hospital in order help prepare future humanitarian responses. Methods: We retrospectively extracted data from clinical charts in the MSF-supported hospital. We included all new admissions for blast-wounded patients with key data elements documented. We performed comparative analyses from the offensive period (June 6, 2017 to October 17, 2017) and the post-offensive period (October 18, 2017 to March 17, 2018). Results: We included 322 blast related injuries. There were more than twice the number of cases with blast injuries in the post-offensive period as the offensive period (225 vs. 97, p=<.001). The offensive period saw a significantly higher proportion of female patients (32.0%, n = 31 vs.
    [Show full text]
  • War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 14, Issue 07 -- May 11, 2019
    PILPG Logo Case School of Law Logo War Crimes Prosecution Watch Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Hassan FREDERICK K. COX Volume 14 - Issue 07 INTERNATIONAL LAW CENTER May 11, 2019 Technical Editor-in-Chief Kurt Harris Founder/Advisor Michael P. Scharf Managing Editors Gloria Neilson Faculty Advisor Mary Preston Jim Johnson War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email [email protected] and type "subscribe" in the subject line. Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group. Contents AFRICA NORTH AFRICA Libya Libya ‘war crimes’ videos shared on social media (BBC News) UN mission in Libya calls for humanitarian truce in Ramadan (The Libya Observer) Libyan officials say 200 people have been killed in recent fighting (The Guardian) CENTRAL AFRICA Central African Republic Strange Bedfellows: Central African Republic Government and Regional War Lords (The African Exponent) Russia trains CAR defence forces (The Southern Times) Sudan & South Sudan South Sudan: Activists' Bodies Dumped in River - State Agents (AllAfrica) UN Court Slams Jordan on Freedom of Sudan’s Bashir (Court House News) ICC declines to refer Jordan to UN for failing to arrest Sudan’s al-Bashir (Jurist) Does Sudan’s road ahead lead to democracy or anarchy? (Arab News) Are South Sudan's Kiir and Machar out to block peace and justice? (The East African) Sudan's Bashir to face questioning over 'financing terror' (Hilltop Monitor) Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo drops mercenaries investigation of opposition leader Katumbi (Reuters) Congolese refugees cross illegally into Uganda, raising risk of Ebola: aid groups (Reuters) Congo recaptures one of two fugitive suspects in U.N.
    [Show full text]