US coalition blocks roadway of Daesh convoy

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S.-led coalition said Wednesday it struck a roadway being used by a Daesh convoy fleeing to territory it controls.

Daesh fighters had been allowed safe passage under a controversial agreement with the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Syrian regime following their military defeat along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The coalition said in a statement it was not party to the agreement, further contending that Damascus and its allies' "counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they cut deals with and allow terrorists to transit territory under their control."

The statement was referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, another name for Daesh.

"ISIS is a global threat; relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with is not a lasting solution. This is just further evidence of why coalition military action is necessary to defeat ISIS in Syria," the coalition added.

The coalition said it did not strike the Daesh convoy but severely damaged the road it was using while also confirming that it hit "individual vehicles and fighters" that had been identified as Daesh.

"In accordance with the law of armed conflict, the coalition will take action against ISIS whenever and wherever we are able to without harming civilians," it said.

Buses carrying Daesh fighters and their families departed western Syria on Tuesday bound for territory the group controls near the Iraqi border.

"Irreconcilable #ISIS terrorists should be killed on the battlefield, not bused across #Syria to the Iraqi border without #Iraq's consent," President Donald Trump's anti-Daesh coalition envoy Brett McGurk tweeted Wednesday.