ISIS families escape Syria's SDF-controlled camps: Kurds

Families of Islamic State (ISIS) group members escaped a displacement camp in northern Syria where a Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces has sparked fierce fighting, Kurdish authorities said Sunday.

"The brutal military assault led by Turkey and its mercenaries is now taking place near a camp in Ain Issa, where there are thousands (of people) from families of ISIS," the Kurdish administration said in a statement. "Some were able to escape after bombardments that targeted" the camp, the statement added. "More than 100 people, women, and children," fled the camp in Ain Issa, a camp official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor confirmed that "around 100" foreign women and children from families of ISIS members escaped, without specifying their nationalities. Turkey launched its offensive on Wednesday to push Kurdish-led forces away from the northeastern border area of war-torn Syria. Kurdish authorities have repeated warnings that the fighting could facilitate an ISIS resurgence, saying security instability could allow ISIS to free thousands of jihadists and their families held in prisons and displacement camps in Kurdish-held territory.

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Some 12,000 ISIS fighters -- Syrians, Iraqis as well as foreigners from 54 countries -- are detained in Kurdish prisons, according to their official statistics. The displacement camps host some 12,000 foreigners -- 8,000 children and 4,000 women.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control territory in northern Syria, were the main partner on the ground in the US-led campaign against ISIS. US President Donald Trump has been accused of abandoning a loyal ally and giving Turkey a green light to launch the long-threatened offensive after ordering American troops to pull back from the border.

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Pakistan backs Turkey

While most world powers, including Russia, the US, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other countries from the Middle East and Europe have censured Turkey's military aggression in north-east Syria, Islamabad has backed Ankara over their 'incursion.'

Pakistan PM Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend his solidarity and support for Turkey. According to reports of Dawn, Pakistan said that it 'fully understand's' Turkey's concerns of terrorism. Pakistan's Prime Minister said, "As a country which has lost more than 70,000 lives due to terrorism and borne the burden of more than 3 million refugees for decades, Pakistan is fully cognisant of the threats and challenges being faced by Turkey having lost 40,000 of its people to terrorism."

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(With AP inputs)