[Published here on October 31, 2019]
Baghdad (AFP) – One protester killed. Then five. Suddenly, more than 40. As Iraq’s anti-government demonstrations turned bloody, a network of rights defenders and medics began documenting deaths to fill a gag order on casualty numbers.
I spoke to BBC Scotland’s Isabel Fraser and Gordon Brewer on February 16, 2019 on the deeply disturbing state of civilians fleeing the final Islamic State group pocket of Baghouz in eastern Syria.
Listen in here, with my interview starting around 1:07:00.
[Published here on February 15, 2019]
As destitute civilians stumble out of the Islamic State group’s last enclave in east Syria, a mixed bag of unlikely characters are pitching in to help get them to safety.
[Published here on October 9, 2017]
Raqa (Syria) (AFP) – US-backed fighters battling to oust the Islamic State group from Syria’s Raqa were nearing the “final week” of their assault, the campaign’s commander told AFP on Sunday. Continue reading
[Published here October 9, 2017]
Hawi al-Hawa (Syria) (AFP) – As fighters from the Islamic State group retreat into a shrinking part of Syria’s Raqa, they are dragging along terrified civilians for cover against a ferocious US-backed onslaught.
[Published here September 27, 2017]
HAWI AL-HAWA (SYRIA) (AFP) – For years, Gharam Habbal and her elderly father had desperately dreamt of escaping the Islamic State group’s hellish grip on Raqa. But when she finally fled, he wasn’t with her.
[Published here on November 13, 2016]
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) – A black Humvee speeds down a dusty road in eastern Mosul carrying two boys: one is dead, and the other’s leg has been torn open by the same mortar strike.
[Published here May 23, 2016]
Beirut (AFP) – Under international pressure, Syria’s government has agreed to partial aid access for thousands of civilians living under regime siege but one town near Damascus remains a “thorn in its side”: Daraya.
MAYA GEBEILY 