In light of the BBC investigation, the coalition now admits the part it played in the deal. Some 250 IS fighters were allowed to leave Raqqa, with 3,500 of their family members.
“We didn’t want anyone to leave,” says Col Ryan Dillon, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the Western coalition against IS.
“But this goes to the heart of our strategy, ‘by, with and through’ local leaders on the ground. It comes down to Syrians – they are the ones fighting and dying, they get to make the decisions regarding operations,” he says.
While a Western officer was present for the negotiations, they didn’t take an “active part” in the discussions. Col Dillon maintains, though, that only four foreign fighters left and they are now in SDF custody.
I guess perhaps they can only focus on those they can easily prosecute, hence the focus on 'foreign' fighters. They might well have let local fighters leave..... I guess, and let the enroute and destination countries deal with the passage and presence as it happens when it happens if it happens. Certainly not ideal, but given the exodus away from the Russian-Syrian campaign efforts (seemed to be mass destruction)... I'm not sure the Coalition forces had enough resources to manage the flood of refugees (legitimate and illegitimate) escaping the fall of the Syrian rebellion.
