Raqqa civilians caught in ‘horrific crossfire’ as US-led coalition squeezes ISIS

‘International NGOs are becoming increasingly alarmed by the situation in Raqqa, a stronghold of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria, as more civilians suffer from both the terrorists and the US-led operation to free the city.
New eyewitness accounts from Raqqa refugees have emerged amid the US bombing campaign and the Kurdish-led forces’ ground siege. Those who managed to flee the city have told RT that “civilian people would die either from clashes or from the aircraft.” A woman claimed a checkpoint for refugees had also been “targeted by the aircraft” as she was leaving it.
While civilians have been dying in Syria because IS terrorists are “shooting people in the back as they try to flee or using them as human shields,” there are also “many” casualties “due to the coalition bombardment,” the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, told RT in an exclusive interview on Monday.
People are being killed in what Egeland described as “a horrific crossfire” in Raqqa. Such operations, especially with the use of air strikes, always put civilians’ lives at risk, he said, adding that in such densely populated area as Raqqa the bombardment from the coalition has been ongoing for a long period of time.’
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