Trump calls on European allies to take back captured ISIS fighters

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By Linda Givetash

LONDON — President Donald Trump called on European countries to take back captured Islamic State fighters late Saturday as U.S.-backed forces in Syria closed in on the extremist group’s final sliver of territory.

“The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial,” Trump said on Twitter.

“The caliphate is ready to fall,” he added.

After years of global effort to combat the group, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic forces have cornered remaining militants in a village near the Iraqi border, under fire from all sides.

The final assault has been prolonged because ISIS fighters have been using civilians as human shields, SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali told NBC News.

“In the coming few days, in a very short time, we will spread the good tidings to the world of the military end of Daesh,” he said Saturday, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

source: nbcnews.com