Turkey says ISIS preparing to withdraw from Syria’s al-Bab

ISIS is preparing to withdraw from the city of al-Bab in northern Syria as the terrorist group continues to suffer losses due to Euphrates Shield operation pushing deeper into the town, the Turkish military said on Friday.

As the Turkish military secures hundreds of residential areas and thousands of square kilometers of land alongside the Turkish border, ISIS 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 to 18,000 civilians living in al-Bab while a large part of the population has fled the town after ISIS captured it.

The group is moving its forces and ammunition into one point they currently use as headquarters as the number of the militants keeps decreasing, the statement added.

Operation Euphrates Shield began in late August to tighten border security, eliminate the terror threat along Turkish borders, and support opposition forces in Syria. The Free Syrian Army is backed by Turkish artillery and jets as a part of the operation.