U.S.-backed force expects 'decisive battle' against Islamic State

NEAR BAGHOUZ, Syria (Reuters) – The U.S.-backed Syrian force closing in on Islamic State’s last territorial bastion near the Iraqi border expects a “decisive battle” on Sunday after slow advances, a spokesman said overnight.

“We expect a decisive battle in the morning,” Marvan Qamishlo, a military media official for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told Reuters on a hill overlooking Baghouz village.

“Daesh mined the area very extensively. Thousands of mines are present along the roads in that small patch,” he added, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.