Bombs don't hurt Islamic State... it is civilians who suffer

Fear: a civilian said to have been hurt by a Russian air strike in Idlib province
AP
Michael Howie2 December 2015

AS MPs debate air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, some citizens fleeing the country’s civil war were voicing fears over the consequences.

Hours after crossing from Turkey into Greece with his family and a friend, one young Syrian said he believed IS had not been seriously harmed by the US-led aerial bombardment.

“The situation in Syria is really bad. If Britain starts bombing too, Daesh [another name for Islamic State] will escape but innocent people, children will die,” said Ahmed, 17. “When Nato planes come to Syria, the aircraft destroy everything. They are destroying people’s homes, and only a little bit Daesh. They become stronger, we see that.”

Ahmed, who did not want to give his surname, and his mother and brother fled their home city of Idlib, which was the scene of a fierce battle between government troops and Islamist rebels who “liberated” it in June this year.

On Sunday more than 40 people died in air strikes — blamed on Russian jets — on a market in a nearby town. His family were among 40 mainly Syrian refugees rescued from a smuggler boat between Turkey and Samos about 4am earlier this week. The refugees each paid about $1,000 (£660) to make the three-hour crossing in ill-equipped dinghies. More than 2,600 people have drowned in the Mediterranean this year attempting to get into Europe.

Ahmed said living in Idlib during the war was “terrifying” and that one of his friends lost a leg after he was shot “when he went out to buy cigarettes”. “We heard the bombs, we heard the guns. Of course it was terrifying,” he said.

Another Syrian called Hassan, also too afraid to be identified, echoed Ahmed’s fears about possible British air strikes. The 26-year-old university graduate said: “It will not work, bombs do not hurt Daesh — it is the citizens who suffer.”

Nour, a 26-year-old nurse from Damascus, said: “I’d like to think that Britain will help defeat Daesh but I’m not hopeful. What I do know is that more civilians will die.”

Nour has had more than her share of tragedy. Her brother was killed by a shell 18 months ago and her father has been missing for three years.

She fled with her four-year-old daughter two weeks ago and is hoping to make it through Macedonia towards Germany or Austria.

“I don’t know where I’ll go, I just want to live in peace. The situation in Syria is terrible, but I am hopeful that one day I can go back because I love my country.”

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