An anti-ISIS activist group called out Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for saying during Sunday’s presidential debate that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is fighting ISIS and other terrorist groups in the country.
“I don’t like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS,” Trump said during the second presidential debate.
While Assad does target ISIS and other terrorist groups occasionally, his real focus has been wiping out the moderate opposition groups that pose a threat to his regime.
ISIS and Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria also oppose the Assad regime, but because they don’t have legitimacy in the West, they pose less of a threat to Assad on the international stage.
And Syrian civilians generally regard the Assad regime as their greatest enemy, since his forces have killed more civilians than any terrorist group in Syria.
The anti-ISIS group, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, explained the holes in Trump’s statement in a series of tweets:
1-Trump: ” Assad is killing ISIS”.
He is a liar. Over 90% of ISIS land are areas that were liberated by the Free Syrian Army.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
2-He is a liar. Over 87% of ISIS battles are with the opposition forces.
He is a liar. Assad has not even captured ONE major city from ISIS.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
3-He is a liar. The majority of Russian and Assad airstrikes and barrel bombs are against civilians, not ISIS.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
4-He is a liar. ISIS has killed more from the opposition, than from the regime. Assad has killed more from the opposition than ISIS.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
5-He is a liar. Many of ISIS leaders were in Assad’s cells, and were released as soon the Syrian people went out to
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
6-the streets to demand their freedom.
Facts are checked!
Hamid Imam
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently is an activist group that opposes both Assad and ISIS. Their citizen journalists have exposed the terrorist group’s human rights abuses in Syria.
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