Reportedly, refugees from the villages of Mesken and Kebiş, north of Raqqa and other nearby places were sent to refugee camps in the village of Ayn İssa.
In an interview with Sputnik Turkey, Mansur called on international organizations to help the civilian population of Raqqa.
“When the operation for the liberation of Iraqi Mosul was launched, the UN and other international organizations opened refugee camps, provided with humanitarian assistance, food and medicine, thus meeting the priority needs of refugees,” the commander said.
He further said that in connection with the military operations in the region of the province of Raqqa, a wave of migrants on a scale of 100,000 people is possible.
“If we look at the Raqqa operation directly, we are talking about more than 160,000 people. Up until now, the Kurdish Administration of Democratic Autonomy and the Kurdish Red Crescent have been and continue to provide assistance to refugees. We call on international community organizations to join this process,” Mansur said.
In November 2016, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which mainly consist of Kurdish fighters, but also include members of the Syrian Arab Coalition, launched Operation Euphrates Rage to retake Raqqa from Daesh with the support of the US-led international coalition.
On April 14, the SDF announced the start of the fourth stage of the campaign, aiming to clear rural areas of Raqqa of terrorists in preparation for the final liberation of the territory. The same day, the Syrian president's adviser Bouthaina Shaaban confirmed that the Syrian government forces would continue to advance against Daesh in the direction of Raqqa.
Daesh seized control of Raqqa from the Syrian government in January 2014.
