US-backed Syrian forces clear IS enclave
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US-backed Syrian forces were yesterday sweeping through the final enclave that had been held by Islamic State fighters, and said they would declare the group defeated once a search for hidden mines and jihadist holdouts was complete.
鈥淥ur forces are still conducting combing and search operations and as soon as they are finished we will announce the liberation,鈥 Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said in a note to journalists.
Bali said the operation included sweeping for mines and combing for fighters still hidden in trenches and tunnels beneath Baghouz, the last patch of Islamic State territory.
The last clashes reported by the SDF were on Tuesday, indicating that major fighting is over in the last big battle of a five year international campaign against a self-proclaimed caliphate that once comprised a third of both Iraq and Syria.
The SDF, backed by US air power, swept on Tuesday into a camp where hundreds of fighters had been making their last stand with thousands of civilians, many their own wives and children.
A news outlet with close ties to the Syrian Kurdish-led authorities, Hawar, reported that the operation was now finished and Islamic State defeated. But an SDF denial swiftly made clear it was not quite prepared to declare victory yet.
The International Rescue Committee said another 2,000 women and children had arrived late on Wednesday at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria that has received tens of thousands of people who have poured out of the shrinking Islamic State territory.
鈥淭hese women and children are in the worst condition we have seen since the crisis first began. Many have been caught up in the fighting and dozens have been burnt or badly injured by shrapnel,鈥 Wendy Taeuber, IRC鈥檚 Iraq and northeast Syria country director, said in a statement. 鈥淲e are expecting another 3,000 to arrive soon and we are very worried that they may be in even worse shape.鈥
A report issued by the United Nations鈥 population fund, the UNFPA, yesterday said 鈥渋t is estimated that around 7,000 people are still inside鈥 Baghouz, without elaborating.
The camp is now holding more than 72,000 people, including more than 40,000 children, IRC said. The total number of deaths on the way to al-Hol or shortly after arriving there now stood at 138, the overwhelming number of them babies and infants.
Of the 1,248 pregnant women and girls in the camp, up to 15 percent were aged below 18, most of them aged 14-15, the UNFPA said.
Although the defeat of Islamic State at Baghouz ends its grip over populated territory, it remains a threat, with fighters operating in remote territory elsewhere and capable of mounting insurgent attacks.
The US has warned that IS may still have tens of thousands of fighters, dispersed throughout Iraq and Syria, with enough leaders and resources to present a menacing insurgency.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said victory was 鈥渃lose.鈥
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