Daesh, US trauma to haunt Raqqah kids for decades: Charity

A charity group has warned that children fleeing Syria's Raqqah need decades to heal from their psychological injuries after being "tormented" by Daesh's brutal acts in the terrorist group’s stronghold as well as US strikes.

Save the Children interviewed some of them and their families who have fled Raqqah, recounting what they saw under the Daesh rule as well as the death of their neighbors in US airstrikes on the city's residential buildings.

"Raqqah's children might look normal on the outside but inside many are tormented by what they've seen," the NGO's Syria director Sonia Khush said on Monday.

"The children of Raqqah didn't ask for the nightmares and memories of seeing loved ones die right in front of them," Khush added.

Raashida, a 13-year-old girl who escaped with her family three months ago to a displacement camp north of Raqqah, was one of the children interviewed by the NGO.

Daesh "beheaded people and left their bodies on the ground. We saw this and I couldn't handle it," she said.

"I wanted to sleep but I couldn't when I remembered what I saw. And I wouldn't sleep - I would stay awake because of how scared I was," Raashida added.

Khush stressed the importance of providing the children with psychological support to ensure their mental wellbeing.

"It's crucial that the children who've made it out alive are provided with psychological support to help them deal with the trauma of witnessing senseless violence and brutality," she said.

"We risk condemning a generation of children to a lifetime of suffering unless their mental health needs are addressed," the NGO's Syria director added.

The charity also said US airstrikes left families "facing an impossible decision: stay and risk being bombed or leave and risk being shot at by Daesh or stepping on a landmine."

SS