Civilians cleared from last ISIS enclave in Syria; SDF begins final assault
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The media director for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday early evening that the evacuation of civilians from the Islamic State's last territory in the village of Baghouz was complete.
"So," he wrote on his official Twitter account, "our forces began to move [the] military and engage with terrorists to complete their final liberation."
In another post, made soon afterward, he continued, "After evacuation of thousands of civilians and our comrades who held hostage in #Baghouz, operation to clear the last remaining pocket of ISIS has just started at 18:00 this evening."
On Thursday, the SDF announced the liberation of 24 fighters from their ranks that been held captive by the militant group for months.
In a statement posted on its website, the SDF also said their fighters had halted its “direct engagement with the terrorist organization to spare civilians any potential damage.”
“We succeeded in securing a safe passage for civilians, and we managed to free 24 of our forces who had been kidnapped by the terrorist organization months ago,” the statement added.
Regarding the latest developments on the fight against the terrorist group’s last holdout in Syria, the SDF explained that its forces had tightened the chokehold on the town al-Baghouz, located near the Iraqi border, where an as yet unconfirmed number of Islamic State militants and civilians are still present.
Earlier in the week, an SDF commander told Kurdistan 24 that there are possibly more than a thousand Islamic State fighters holed up in Baghouz.
“There is no official record, but there are maybe more than a thousand mercenaries [ISIS fighters] there, most of them foreigners: Europeans, Turks, a lot of Iraqis, Asians,” he said.
The SDF has previously given the terrorist group a final ultimatum to either lay down its arms or face a decisive ground offensive. Most of the remaining militants in the Baghuoz area are believed to be foreign fighters.
Editing by John J. Catherine