U.S.-backed Syrian force launches 'final battle' against ISIL

World
Europe

00:49

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) started on Saturday the final attacks against ISIL in eastern Syria, Kurdish activists reported.

Following the evacuation of more than 20,000 civilians from the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour Province, the SDF started the night operation against the last ISIL-held pocket in the eastern Euphrates region, according to Mustafa Balli, head of the SDF media office.

Balli said the battle aims to eliminate all remaining ISIL militants in Baghouz.

The SDF has been on a crushing offensive to root out ISIL from the eastern Euphrates region since last September.

A fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walks past a former ISIL jihadist alms tax center in the city of Hajin in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province on January 27, 2019 after the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed SDF retook the city from ISIL fighters. /VCG Photo

President Donald Trump, who is planning to pull U.S. forces out of Syria, said on Wednesday he expected an announcement as early as next week that the U.S.-led coalition operating in support of the SDF had reclaimed all the territory previously held by the extremist group.

According to the Observatory, more than 37,000 people, including dozens of ISIL militants, have fled the last ISIL-held pocket to areas controlled by the SDF in the eastern Euphrates region since last December.

Trump said in December he was pulling all 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, saying the battle against ISIL there was almost won.

But a top U.S. general said on Tuesday the group would pose an enduring threat following the U.S. withdrawal, as it retained leaders, fighters, facilitators and resources that would fuel a menacing insurgency.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the U.S. military was preparing to withdraw from Syria by the end of April.

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency