We did not imagine there would be this number of civilians left,” Afrin said. He said they were likely to be families of IS militants, but their discovery nonetheless has blunted the offensive. The anticipated declaration of victory against the group, however, has been delayed by this discovery of a large number of civilians in the area. It is not clear whether the Islamic State group is holding any civilian prisoners in the enclave, beyond their own families. They can be among the civilians, or in underground prisons, we have no information,” said Afrin, the SDF commander.

Source: National Post February 15, 2019 13:10 UTC