Politics
22:51, 02-Sep-2017
US airstrikes strand ISIL evacuation convoy in Syria desert
["other"]
Share
Copied
Lebanon's Hezbollah said in a statement on Saturday that US warplanes were stopping buses in an ISIL evacuation convoy from advancing further into ISIL areas.
Hezbollah said the warplanes were also preventing any humanitarian aid reaching the buses, which included both fighters and family members including old people, injured people and pregnant women, the statement said.
Six of the buses in the ISIL convoy had remained in Syrian government areas, said Hezbollah, which along with the Syrian army has given the convoy safe passage as part of a ceasefire deal.
Hezbollah and the Syrian army are seeking a new route for the convoy of fighters and their families bound for the jihadists' stronghold in eastern Syria, a commander in the military alliance backing Syria's government said.
The convoy of 17 buses carrying about 300 lightly armed fighters and 300 civilians has been stuck in Syria's eastern desert since Tuesday, with a US-led coalition using air strikes to stop it from entering ISIL territory.
The fighters traveling on the buses surrendered their enclave straddling Syria's border with Lebanon on Monday in a truce deal that allowed them to join their comrades on the other side of the country.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency