US-backed forces capture IS militants amid final push in Syria

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have resumed their campaign to expel IS fighters from the village of Baghuz after suspending it to evacuate civilians.

US-backed forces are moving into Baghouz, where the remnants of IS are making their last stand.

US-backed forces are moving into Baghouz, where the remnants of IS are making their last stand. Source: AP

US-backed Syrian forces have made some advances against a and captured some of the militants there, a monitoring group says.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday they had resumed their campaign to expel Islamic State from the village of Baghuz after briefly suspending it to evacuate civilians still trapped there.

"The advances are slow out of fear of suicide attacks and mines, but the confrontation by the Islamic State fighters inside Baghuz is not strong," the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told dpa.
US-backed forces are moving into Baghouz, where the remnants of IS are making their last stand.
US-backed forces are moving into Baghouz, where the remnants of IS are making their last stand. Source: AP
He added that planes of the US-led coalition were striking posts where the SDF faced confrontation by Islamic State.
Baghuz, located on the Euphrates river in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq, is the last significant territory still in the hands of Islamic State, which for years controlled swathes of both countries.

According to the observatory SDF fighters managed to advance to some parts of the Baghuz camp and the agriculture fields around the village where Islamic State militants are still holed in.
Tracer fire and explosions lights up the night sky as US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fire on Baghou.
Tracer fire and explosions lights up the night sky as US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fire on Baghou. Source: AP
It added that SDF fighters managed to capture a number of jihadists.
Syria's Kurds have played a major role in fighting Islamic State in the war-torn country.


Share
2 min read
Published 11 March 2019 8:30pm
Updated 11 March 2019 8:47pm

Tags

Share this with family and friends