Ash-Shahil city is located in the Eastern countryside of Der Ezzor, it is 45 Km away from the city center and it has a population of 30-35 thousand people in addition to additional 10,000 who fled there from Der Ezzor city and other governorates.
Ash-Shahil is one of ISIS’s and Jaish Al-Islam’s main centers in Der Ezzor. The residents have sided with An-Nussra front and the rebels to face the danger of ISIS since the beginning of the clashes between the two factions.
After ISIS’s recent victories in Der Ezzor countryside, ISIS started sieging the city from three fronts and the clashes got more heated. The factions fighting inside the city were forced to surrender and ISIS imposed three conditions on the city residents:
First: Repentance (Tauba).
Second: Handing any weapons they have inside the city.
Third: All the residents must leave the city for ten days, and when ISIS feels
secured inside the city, they can come back.
In Friday 3 July, 2014 the execution of these conditions started as 30,000 people were displaced. These people are living under very dire humanitarian conditions such as the high temperature (44 Celsius), food and water shortages, and living in primitive tents in the middle of the dessert.