Mr Darwish said some of those taken captive have been forced to dig trenches in Isil-held areas while others are imprisoned in a detention centre. Mr Darwish said all captured males above the age of 12 were sent against their will to the front lines to help fortify Islamic State positions. “The terror group is sending civilians to the battlefronts in northern Syria in order to use them as human shields to claim that the western-backed SDF troops are killing innocent civilians,” Muhammad Kalo, a local activist, said. The kidnapping of non-combatants has slowed the fight against Isil in both Iraq and Syria as opposition forces are wary of collateral damage. The extremist group has a history of mass kidnappings in areas they control in Syria and Iraq and have mostly targeted Christians and Kurds in the past. In February 2015, Isil kidnapped more than 200 Christians from northeastern Syria. The Christians were released over a period of a year, after the group collected millions of dollars in ransom. In the summer of 2014 the group seized swathes of northern Kurdistan and abducted thousands of the minority Yazidis, many of whom women and children they later sold into slavery.
ISIS has reportedly abducted around 900 Kurds near the city of Aleppo. The move appears to have come in retaliation following an offensive against ISIS in the neighbouring territory of Manbij. The individuals were taken from villages around al-Bab. They included men, women, and children. The men and boys over a year are believed to have been co-opted into ISIS’ ranks. ISIS has incurred significant losses in its stronghold of Manbij since an offensive on the city began in late May. Previously, Manbij was a key link in the group’s supply route between its de facto capital, Raqqa, and the Turkish border.