Deliverance From Daesh: Iraqis, Syrians Express More Grief Than Gratitude

© Sputnik / Hikmet DurgunA damaged building of the liberated Al-Raqqa Province
A damaged building of the liberated Al-Raqqa Province - Sputnik International
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Thousands of civilians were reportedly killed by the US-led coalition's airstrikes on the Syrian cities of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, as well as the Iraqi city of Tal Afar. Sputnik interviewed several Raqqa citizens and Tal Afar refugees who lost loved ones during the bombings

Raqqa resident Mustafa Ahmed told Sputnik said that during the coalition forces' airstrikes, he lost his only son and nephew. According to him, he witnessed scores of civilians dying in these air raids.

"My son and nephew were killed in a coalition airstrike last week when they went to a well for water. I come from [the northern Syrian city of] Manbij, but have lived in Raqqa for several years now," he said.

A U.S. soldier stands near Syrian children on a road that links to Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - Sputnik International
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He added that when Raqqa was controlled by Daesh (ISIS), its residents had to line up in order to get water.

"Daesh was very cruel to us.  The militants were the first to receive water, which was then given to all others. My son was killed because of several bottles of water," he said.

Ahmed was echoed by Kadir İbrahim, who said that he also lost a son as a result of one of the coalition forces' bombings which killed a total of 35 civilians.

"My nineteen-year-old son and nephew died as a result of an airstrike, when they tried to obtain water," according to Ibrahim.

© Sputnik / Hikmet DurgunResidents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo
Residents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo  - Sputnik International
Residents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo

Thirty-five-year-old Fatima Ali lost her husband in a coalition airstrike that claimed the lives of 50 people who were crushed under the rubble of a building which was hit by a missile. She said that her husband was survived by his son and a daughter.

"The operation to liberate Raqqa was very protracted and we could not leave our homes for a long time. On the one hand, air strikes were constantly being launched and on the other — clashes did not stop in the city," Ali added.

Twelve-year-old Suphi Muhli from the Ain Issa refugee camp near Raqqa said that his mother was killed when coalition warplanes dropped bombs on the Iraqi town of Tal Afar.

© Sputnik / Hikmet DurgunResidents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo
Residents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo  - Sputnik International
Residents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo

He explained that during the Iraqi army's anti-Daesh operation, his family tried to flee Tal Adar but that the terrorists prevented them from doing so.

He said that after their home was bombed out, they took refuge in a nearby school and that his mother was killed in an air raid when she went into the school's yard for water.

"We were heartbroken. We shudder every time we hear the sound of an aircraft and my younger brothers and sisters start to cry. Each time we hear a plane flying, we have before our eyes a picture of our mother's body lying under the rubble of a house. Apart from my mother, many others were killed by [coalition] airstrikes," Muhli added.

© Sputnik / Hikmet DurgunResidents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo
Residents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo  - Sputnik International
Residents of the liberated Raqqa province. File photo

He said that he wants to return home as soon as possible and that now he has to care for his five brothers and two sisters living in the Ain Issa camp.

Members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ride near near the main traffic circle in Raqqa Syria, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 - Sputnik International
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Another Tal Afar resident, Ali Abdi, said that the coalition forces conduct airstrikes without making any distinction between civilians and terrorists.

According to him, hundreds of people were killed and hundreds more injured in the airstrikes.

"Many tried to hide in mosques in the hope that they wouldn't target them, but mosques were also bombed. Because of the bombing, a significant number of civilians tried to flee the town," Abdi concluded.

On October 20, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the full liberation of Raqqa from Daesh terrorists, something which was then confirmed by the US-led coalition.

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