The last of the ISIS militants are holed up in the group’s final enclave in eastern Syria, the SDF has confirmed. The US supported forces has been poised to wipe out the last vestige of ISIS territorial rule in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. However the operation has been held up by efforts to evacuate thousands of civilians.
Mustafa Bali, the head of the SDF media office, said: “We won’t storm the village and declare it liberated unless we have completely confirmed the departure of civilians.
“We expect a fierce battle”.
Speaking to American troops on Thursday, US president Donald Trump claimed the mission had been completed “100 percent”.
Mr Trump said: “You kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now’s it’s 100 percent.
“We did that in a much shorter period of time than it was supposed to be.”
The ISIS base in Baghouz is the last populated territory held by the jihadists who have been steadily driven away.
However the group is still seen as a security threat, by using guerrilla tactics and us still holding some territory in a remote area west of the Euphrates River.
Some 40,000 people have crossed out of the jihadists’ diminishing territory in the last three months as the SDF sought to drive it from the remaining territory.
A spokesman for the US led international coalition which supports the SDF said the Kurdish-led Syrian group had adopted a “slow and deliberate” approach to Baghouz.
Colonel Sean Ryan said: “They are dealing with multiple dilemmas and trying to stabilise the area.”
The US has around 2,000 troops in Syria mainly to support the SDF in fighting against Islamic State.
In December the US President said he would withdraw all troops from Syria.
But due to widespread criticism and the resignation of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, the decision was partially reversed and around 200 US troops would now stay in the war-torn region.