Syrian government officials warned a convoy of Australian families linked to Islamic State fighters that they would be fired upon if they continued towards Damascus last week, a Kurdish official said.
A group of 34 Australian women and children, assisted by their relatives, left al-Roj detention camp on Monday 16 February under a Kurdish military escort, with the aim of reaching Damascus before flying to Australia.
But about 50km away from the camp, Kurdish security forces received a call from the government in Damascus, telling them that the convoy would be “struck” if they tried to reach territory controlled by Syrian government forces. Kurdish forces de-facto control much of north-east Syria, including the area by the Iraqi border where al-Roj is located, and the convoy needed to “cross” a checkpoint controlled by the Syrian government to reach Damascus.
