Daesh is preparing to withdraw from northern Syria's al-Bab town as the terrorist group continues to experience setbacks due to Turkey's "Euphrates Shield" operation pushing deeper into the town, the Turkish military said on Friday.
As the Turkish military secures a total of 227 residential areas and 1,875 square kilometers (724 square miles) of land from northern Syria's Azaz to Jarabulus – a corridor running parallel to the Turkish frontier with the operation- Daesh terrorists have started to use civilians that have remained in al-Bab as human shields, security sources said.
According to the statement, there are between 15 to18,000 civilians living in al-Bab while a large part of the population has fled the town after it was captured by the terrorist group.
The group is moving its forces and ammunition into one point they currently use as headquarters as the number of the militants keep decreasing, the statement added.
Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24, 2016, after declaring its right to exercise self-defense, protected under the U.N. Charter Article 51.
A National Security Council press release from Nov. 30, 2016, stated that the operation's objectives were to maintain border security and confront Daesh terrorism within the framework of the U.N. Charter. It also emphasized preventing the PKK terrorist organization, along with its affiliates, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), from establishing a terror corridor on Turkey's doorstep.
