{"id":25958,"date":"2018-12-18T03:23:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=25958"},"modified":"2018-12-18T03:23:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:23:06","slug":"sdf-fighters-vow-to-finish-off-daesh-in-hajjin-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=25958","title":{"rendered":"SDF fighters vow to \u2018finish off\u2019 Daesh in Hajjin operation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nHAJJIN:\u00a0Burnt-out cars, craters and collapsed buildings dot the side of a road in the Syrian village of Hajjin, after US-backed forces expelled Daesh.<\/p>\n

\nThe sound of mortar fire and flying bullets resounded inside Hajjin on Saturday, as huge clouds of grey smoke billowed over the outskirts of the large village in eastern Syria.<\/p>\n

\nThe yellow flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) flew above one building, after the Kurdish-led fighters seized the village from Daesh on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHajjin has come under the control of our forces,\u201d SDF commander Zanar Awaz said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe are now fighting on the outskirts of Hajjin and we are preparing to enter nearby villages,\u201d he said in Kurdish, a shot of white in his short black hair.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe will finish off this terrorist group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHajjin lies on the east bank of the Euphrates in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, about 30 km from the border with Iraq.<\/p>\n

\nThe village\u2019s capture marks a milestone in a massive and costly operation backed by a US-led coalition to expel Daesh from eastern Syria.<\/p>\n

\nOn Saturday, armored vehicles brought in SDF fighters to reinforce the front lines outside Hajjin, as coalition planes and helicopters flew overhead.<\/p>\n

\nAn SDF fighter sitting on the top of a vehicle with fellow combattants flashed a victory sign.<\/p>\n

\nThe Kurdish-led SDF launched an offensive in September to expel Daesh\u00a0from a pocket including its main village Hajjin, but their advance has been fraught with obstacles.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been facing a lot of difficulties: Daesh car bombs, suicide attackers. Most of them are foreign,\u201d Awaz said.<\/p>\n

\nOn Saturday morning, Daesh launched a counterattack, but the SDF said it succeeded in repelling them with the backing of coalition air strikes.<\/p>\n

\nSince the start of the operation on September 10, at least 930 extremists and more than 540 SDF fighters have been killed, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.<\/p>\n

\nIn addition, more than 320 civilians have lost their lives, many in coalition airstrikes, according to the Observatory. The coalition has however repeatedly denied targeting civilians.<\/p>\n

\nBut no civilians were visible in Hajjin on Saturday, after thousands fled the village and nearby areas.<\/p>\n

\nA convoy of armored cars ferried in US soldiers, churning up dust along the way.<\/p>\n

\nOn a hill that used to act as the village cemetery, tunnels and trenches dug by the terrorists lay covered in sheets and colorful blankets. Bullet and artillery shell casings covered the ground.<\/p>\n

\nSDF fighter Bahouz, who did not give his last name, remembered first entering the district\u2019s hospital.<\/p>\n

\nHe said he took pictures of the dead terrorists he saw there.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey think they\u2019ll go to paradise, but we killed them,\u201d he said, carrying a gun and hand grenades around his waist.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDeath is their destiny as they destroyed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nDaesh swept across large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, implementing their brutal interpretation of laws in areas they controlled.<\/p>\n

\nBut they have since seen their dream of a state crumble, as they have lost most of that territory to various offensives.<\/p>\n

\nIn Syria, Daesh is still holding out in what remains of the pocket that once included Hajjin, including the villages of Al-Shaafa and Sousa.<\/p>\n

\nDaesh also also retained a presence in the vast Badia desert, but that front is managed by Russia-backed regime forces.<\/p>\n

\nAccording to the Observatory, a total of 17,000 SDF fighters are involved in the fight to seize the eastern pocket, compared to around 2,000 jihadists.<\/p>\n

\nInside Hajjin village, SDF fighter Mohammed Al-Mohammed said his spirits were high.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere\u2019s only a bit left\u201d to capture from Daesh, said the 19-year-old.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe will head on to Al-Shaafa and Sousa to liberate them and win.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAJJIN:\u00a0Burnt-out cars, craters and collapsed buildings dot the side of a road in the Syrian village of Hajjin, after US-backed forces expelled Daesh. The sound of mortar fire and flying bullets resounded inside Hajjin on Saturday, as huge clouds of grey smoke billowed over the outskirts of the large village in eastern Syria. The yellow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":25959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}