Families of Mosul Isis leaders reach Raqqa in Syria. Suspicion of 'Allied forces' complicity. (
AN).
Raqqa –
As the Iraqi army continues its advance towards
Mosul rumors are also circulating that there is a secret agreement to
transfer Daesh militiamen from Mosul to Syria, specifically to Raqqa and
Deir ez-Zor, in Caliphate territory".
A similar transfer has already
taken place under the protection and with the complicity of many
countries, including some which officially are fighting Daesh in Iraq,
but not in Syria.
These rumors are now substantiated. An Raqqa resident has reported
seeing 10 white buses followed by 12 cars, entering the city in
motorcade (see photo).
The white vans are the typical means of transport
that the Islamic State (IS) used for operations in Mosul.
Dozens of passengers, mainly women and children, alighted form these
vehicles, many speaking foreign languages and Arabic dialects that are
neither Iraqi nor the Syrian.
The fact that women and children were
treated with great respect has made the residents of Raqqa suspect them
of being family members of Isis leaders and foreign mercenaries.
The families - escorted by armed guards to ensure their protection -
were accommodated in student housing in the district of Al Rumeileh.
The news quickly circulated on social media, which has overtaken
traditional news agencies, sparking uproar in Iraq, among the members of
the so-called "Phalange of Babylon". This is a paramilitary militia
composed of Christians (Orthodox) in Mosul that fights alongside the
Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga to regain their lands occupied by the
IS.
Some of them have expressed suspicion of Allied forces complicity in
allowing Daesh fugitives, to make the journey to Raqqa.
Curiously, the
Western air force engaged in air raids, did not report any sightings of
them and allowed them to arrive safe and sound in Raqqa.
Late yesterday an Iraqi source told the pan-Arab TV Al Mayadeen that
are already 100 prominent leaders of Daesh who have fled Mosul and
arrived in Raqqa with their family.
The propaganda machine of the Daesh "Caliphate" however reports the
exact opposite: "the relatives of foreign Daesh leaders are fleeing
Raqqa in the direction of Mosul, considered more secure." The news of
the escape from Raqqah to Mosul was even declared by Rami Abdel Rahman,
director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited by AFP, and
rebroadcast by Sky 24 network in Arabic, who spoke of the arrival in
Mosul from Raqqah of 70 families of Daesh leaders.
In any case, this transit between Mosul and Raqqa seems to have taken
place in complete safely. It is not clear how these families are
arriving from Mosul to Raqqa (or vice versa): the strategic highway
Sinjar, which links Mosul to Hassakah in Syria and then to Raqqa is
under the total control of the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga.
The only other possibility is to pass further south, from Shaddadiya
in Syria, or to the north, where there are Turkish troops in Baashika.
Of course all these movements would be visible with satellites and from
the air, where Russians, Americans, Iraqis, French aircraft patrol day
and night.
Military experts say that a massive flight of Isis militiamen from
Mosul to Raqqa, would transform the recapture of Mosul into a Pyrrhic
victory. The military presence of Daesh on the western side of the
Euphrates in Syria would allow them to take advantage of any vacuum in
the future to return to Iraq, rising from the Nineveh Plain to Ramadi,
Falluja and again threaten Baghdad.
The suspicion of the Iraqis is that "Daesh will only temporarily
withdraw from Iraq without a landslide victory, the leaders of the
Caliphate will not be captured or stopped, only to be re-used at any
time by countries that already support and aid Daesh in secret."
Iraqis are convinced that after the liberation of Mosul, the Daesh
leaders and fighters will not be arrested or tried for crimes against
humanity of which they are guilty. They will not be subjected to
interrogation to find out who their secret allies really are. (P.B.)
