US Airstrikes Have Killed 900 in Syria Since August, Numbers of Defects to ISIS Terrorist Group Grows
The death toll of the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria has surpassed 900, CNN reports.
In the past three years, the death toll from the civil war in Syria surpassed 191,000 in August, before the U.S. entered the fight against ISIS.
In the two months since the airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS began, many military deaths have been reported. The London-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reported that, of those killed, 52 are civilians, including eight children and five women.
Of the total 910 deaths recorded by the London group, at least 785 were ISIS fighters.
But the fight against ISIS may not be succeeding in other aspects, according to The Guardian.
Those who are against the President Bashar al-Assad regime, including the Free Syrian Army, also fight against the coalition and have forged alliances with, or even defected to, ISIS.
Abu Zeid, the commander of an FSA brigade near Idlib and a defector from Assad's army, told The Guardian that the defectors are disenchanted with the U.S. fight.
"All the locals here wonder why the US coalition never came to rescue them from Assad's machine guns, but run to fight ISIS when it took a few pieces of land. We were in a robust fight against Isis for confiscating our liberated areas, but now, if we are not in an alliance, we are in a truce with them," Zeid said.
Others also spoke of how ISIS has become a magnet for those Muslims seeking protection from the tyranny of Assad.
"There's no way we would fight ISIS after the US military campaign against them," Assam Murad, a fighter from a 600-strong dissident FSA brigade, said.
Some told the newspaper that social media is reflecting similar concerns and thoughts from the people of Syria.
In addition, they criticized the U.S. for not having armed the civilians against Assad but suddenly becoming willing to infuse weapons into the region with the threat of ISIS.
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