Secret US deal allowed ISIS to flee Raqqa

The U.S. military allowed thousands of Islamic State militant group (ISIS) fighters to flee from their de facto capital of Raqqa in a secret deal that boosted their fight against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to a Pentagon-backed Kurdish commander who has since switched his allegiance to Turkey and who spoke to Reuters.

As the spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish coalition of Arabs and ethnic minorities, Brigadier General Talal Silo acted as the face and the voice of the U.S.’s leading partner against ISIS in Syria. Weeks after the U.S.-backed group successfully ousted ISIS from Raqqa in October, Silo suddenly handed himself over last month to Turkey. For the first time since his switch, the senior commander has spoken out and claimed that the U.S.-led coalition let significantly more fighters out of the embattled city than it previously admitted to.

“[An] agreement was reached for the terrorists to leave, about 4,000 people, them and their families,” Silo told Reuters Friday, claiming that all but about 500 who fled were ISIS fighters.

Silo said that his forces blocked all travel to Raqqa for three days in October, claiming ongoing clashes made movement too dangerous, but that, in reality, they were covering up the exit of thousands of ISIS fighters and hundreds of their family members. “It was all theater,” Silo told Reuters. “The announcement was cover for those who left for Deir Ezzor,” he added.