Paris 3 Days Later: U.S. Closes Doors To Syrian Refugees, France Bombs Civilians In Syria

NEW DELHI: The price for the brutal attacks in Paris that killed over 130 people on Friday is being paid by Syrian civilians, as reports emerge on the civilian casualties in Raqqa following French strikes, and the United States moves to close its door to Syrian refugees.

Reports out of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital, suggest that the militant group was expecting a backlash and had largely vacated the city or taken shelter. The 200,000 civilians that are trapped in Raqqa, however, bore the brunt of France’s military campaign against the Islamic State (also known as Daesh), with an activist group “ Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Slowly” saying airstrikes struck an urban area, and also a clinic and a museum.

Video footage posted online appears to show injured civilians. In a post by Hanine Hassan that has been shared several times, the comment “These are the Syrian civilian casualties in #Raqqa after the French attacks (source: Spanish news outlet). Raqqa may be currently the de facto capital of Daesh (ISIS) but Raqqa is home to 200,000 civilians, Syrians who are besieged and trapped, and are being bombed to death for more than 4 years by Bashar Al-Assad, by ISIS, by Russia, by the Western Allies, by the Arab dictators, by everyone who wants a piece of the cake. This is Raqqa every day, worse than the french capital, for the past 4 years, that is more than 1400 days, not just 5 hours. So yes, bomb it, without condemnation, without global outrage, without remorse, bomb it and kills its children, its men, its women, its elderly, its buildings, and its future; bomb it to feel better, while you fuel those that besiege it, and while you arm those you are bombing. #Syria #ISIS #France,” accompanies the following video:



Raqqa is used to being bombed, and more significantly, Daesh cadre present know when to expect the bombings. It is the city that the US-led coalition bombs when they need a symbolic victory, when they need to show the world that they mean business… actual Islamic State militants being the target or not.

As a Syrian anti-government activist noted on Twitter, not all residents of Raqqa are militants.

Meanwhile, at least 19 US states moved to shut the door on Syrian refugees on Monday, citing security fears in the wake of the Paris attacks. The move came amidst mounting pressure on US President Barack Obama -- from states, Republican presidential candidates, key members of Congress, and in one case a Democratic governor -- to suspend a programme to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the US in 2016.

Obama called the response “shameful,” whilst Presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio categorically stated that America must not take in Syrian refugees.

"Given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees -- any one of whom could be connected to terrorism -- being resettled in Texas," Governor Greg Abbott of the large southern state wrote Monday in a letter to Obama.

On Monday, Alabama, Michigan, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and even Democrat-led New Hampshire, joined the move to oppose the intake of Syrian refugees.