MESOP ATTENTION ! : WILL SYRIAN ARMY STORM TEL HAMIS ? / Syrian army attacks Qamishli countryside, mass displacement reported

WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) – February 8, 2015 – ARA News – Qamishli, Syria – Subsequent to airstrikes and artillery bombardment by the pro-regime military forces, a mass displacement took place in the area of Tel Hamis (35 km south of Qamishli) and the surrounding villages in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, locals reported on Saturday. Speaking to ARA News in Qamishli, civil rights activist Ismail Ali said that the region has witnessed a large displacement among residents of Tel Hamis and its surroundings, due to the heavy shelling carried out by the forces loyal to Syrian regime on locations held by the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) in the town and its neighboring villages.

This comes amid reports of possible preparations by the regime military forces backed by militia of the National Defense Army in an attempt to storm the town. Locals reported that over the past two days, the Syrian regime forces targeted the IS strongholds in the region with heavy artillery and rocket launchers, coinciding with the regime’s forces control of 16 villages and farms in the area. The bombardment was reportedly coupled with airstrikes from the regime’s helicopters with barrel bombs. In another development, the Media Center of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) announced the death of two IS militants and the destruction of a number of armored vehicles, following an operation by the Kurdish YPG fighters who targeted a militarily convoy of the radical group in the area between Omra and Shora villages (25 km southeast of Qamishli).Over the past week, Tel Hamis and its surrounding villages saw heavy battles between the pro-regime forces –backed by allied Arab gunmen– and militants of the Islamic State, during which dozens of dead and wounded fell in the ranks of both parties. Reporting by: Dilshad Muhammad

Source: ARA News