SYRIA SWEEPS UP ISIS STRAGGLERS
U.S.-backed forces clear villages of fighters
BEIRUT — U.S.-backed Syrian forces are clearing two villages in eastern Syria of remaining Islamic State militants who are hiding among the local population, and detaining others attempting to flee with the civilians, the U.S.-led coalition said Thursday.
The clearance operations are taking place in the villages of Shajalah and Baghouz, near the border with Iraq, a coalition statement said, hours after scores of militants from the Islamic State group — including many foreign fighters — surrendered to U.S.-backed fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces Wednesday night.
The developments brought the Kurdish-led force closer to taking full control of the last remaining area controlled by the extremists, a Kurdish official and activists said.
Ciyager Amed, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed that a number of IS fighters who had been holed up in the village of Baghouz gave themselves up, without giving numbers.
He said most of those remaining were Iraqis and foreigners and that few civilians remained in the tiny sliver of land still in IS hands, although women and children are continuing to trickle out of the enclave.
The capture of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group’s hold on territory in Syria and Iraq, their so-called “caliphate” which at the height of the militant group’s power in 2014 controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.
President Donald Trump has said the group is all but defeated, and announced in December that he would withdraw all American forces from Syria.
A coalition official, however, reiterated on Wednesday that IS continues to pose a threat to the security of the region even if their hold on territory is ending.
“While IS is on the verge of collapse, and the end of the physical caliphate is at hand it does not signal the end of this campaign,” said U.K. Maj.Gen. Christopher Ghika.
The coalition statement said SDF forces are detaining IS militants who are attempting to escape among the civilians fleeing the fighting in Baghouz.