TORONTO - An international charity is calling on Ottawa to rescue at least 25 Canadian children caught up in Turkey's offensive into northeastern Syria.
Save the Children Canada, who has aid workers on the ground in Syria, says the kids are largely the offspring of Islamic State militants, and some of them are orphans.
The group's CEO, Bill Chambers, the children are innocent and have rights as Canadian citizens who should be repatriated.
He said they are largely based in Al-Hawl, a refugee camp about 100 kilometres southeast of where the Turkish incursion is underway.
Turkey launched an air and ground assault against Kurdish forces on Wednesday — three days after President Donald Trump pulled U.S. troops from the area.
Chambers says the camps where the children are currently living have not come under attack yet, but he calls the conditions there dire.