An activist organization opposed to ISIS called out US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday for saying during the previous night's presidential debate that Syrian President Bashar Assad was focused on fighting ISIS and other terrorist groups in the country.
"I don't like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS," Trump said while debating Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent.
While Assad's forces do target ISIS and other terrorist groups occasionally, their real focus has been wiping out the moderate opposition groups.
ISIS and Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria also oppose the Assad regime, but because they don't have legitimacy in the West they pose less of a threat to Assad on the international stage than the more moderate rebels.
And Syrian civilians generally regard the Assad regime as their greatest enemy, since his forces have killed more civilians than any terrorist group in Syria.
The activist group, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, which draws its name from the Syrian city that became ISIS' de facto capital, explained the holes in Trump's statement in a series of tweets:
1-Trump: " Assad is killing ISIS".
He is a liar. Over 90% of ISIS land are areas that were liberated by the Free Syrian Army.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
2-He is a liar. Over 87% of ISIS battles are with the opposition forces.
He is a liar. Assad has not even captured ONE major city from ISIS.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
3-He is a liar. The majority of Russian and Assad airstrikes and barrel bombs are against civilians, not ISIS.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
4-He is a liar. ISIS has killed more from the opposition, than from the regime. Assad has killed more from the opposition than ISIS.
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
5-He is a liar. Many of ISIS leaders were in Assad's cells, and were released as soon the Syrian people went out to
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016
6-the streets to demand their freedom.
Facts are checked!
Hamid Imam
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) October 10, 2016Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently is an activist group that opposes both Assad and ISIS. Its citizen journalists have exposed the terrorist group's human-rights abuses in Syria.
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