- Title: Syrian Kurdish official warns of Islamic State jail break
- Date: 10th October 2019
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN ILHAM AHMED ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE IN PREMISES OF EU PARLIAMENT PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES AHMED, INTERPRETER AND SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL CO-CHAIRMAN RIAD DARAR AT NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS AHMED SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING JOURNALISTS ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE AHMED WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN, ILHAM AHMED, SAYING: "One of the prisons in which the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) prisoners are kept - under the control of SDF forces (Syrian Democratic Forces) - was bombed by Turkish war planes yesterday. And probably some of the ISIS members have escaped from this (prison)." PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURE AHMED LISTENING TO HER INTERPRETER (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN, ILHAM AHMED, SAYING (INTERTWINED WITH TRANSLATION BY HER INTERPRETER): "We want an urgent intervention on this crisis and these attacks should be stopped immediately. (PAUSE WHILE INTERPRETER GIVES TRANSLATION) The airspace should be closed for Turkish flights (so) that bombing attacks, air attacks can be stopped. (PAUSE WHILE INTERPRETER GIVES TRANSLATION) And all European states should freeze their relations by withdrawing their ambassadors from Turkey immediately." JOURNALISTS WITH AHMED (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN, ILHAM AHMED, SAYING: "We call on (U.S. President Donald) Trump, instead of leaving us and opening the way for Turkey to attack us, to play a role to find a political solution and (provide) dialogue for a political solution." AHMED WITH JOURNALISTS AND INTERPRETER CAMERAMAN FILMING EXTERIOR OF EU PARLIAMENT EU PARLIAMENT'S MAIN ENTRANCE
- Embargoed: 24th October 2019 13:03
- Keywords: prisons EU Kurds Trump northeast Syria Turkey European Union fighting Syria Syrian Democratic Council U.S. Military operation SDC Islamic State militants
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0IMLHJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: TRANSLATION FROM KURDISH IN SHOTS 9, 12 AND 14 WAS PROVIDED BY SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL INTERPRETER ON THE GROUND
A senior Kurdish official warned on Thursday (October 10) that Islamic State militants could break out of prisons in northeast Syria as fighting intensifies between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey.
Invited by a group of European Union lawmakers to speak to journalists in Brussels, co-chair of the executive committee of the SDF-affiliated Syrian Democratic Council, Ilham Ahmed, said one of the prisons where the SDF holds some Islamic State fighters had been bombed by Turkish planes.
Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria on Wednesday, with air strikes hitting the border town of Ras al Ain.
Ahmed called on the European Union and other NATO members to freeze their relations with Turkey and withdraw their ambassadors from the country. She also called on U.S. President Donald Trump to play a role in finding a political solution rather than "leaving us and opening the way for Turkey to attack us".
Under Turkish attack after their U.S. allies withdrew from part of the border, the SDF - which the Kurdish YPG militia spearheads - is heavily outgunned by NATO's second-largest military.
(Production: Clement Rossignol, Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None