Fierce fighting for IS stronghold
LAST STAND US likely just weeks away from starting withdrawal of ground troops from Syria, says top general
BEIRUT: Fierce fighting was underway o n Monday b e t ween Us-backed Syrian forces and the Islamic State group around the extremists’ last foothold in eastern Syria, with the besieged militants fighting back using suicide car bombs, snipers and booby traps, a Syrian war monitor and a Kurdish news agency said.
The Us-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday launched a final push to clear the area from IS. The capture of the Is-held village of Baghouz and nearby areas would mark the end of a four-year global war to end IS’ territorial hold over large parts of Syria and Iraq, where the group established its self-proclaimed “caliphate” in 2014.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the push by the Kurdish-led SDF has been slow due to land mines and sniper fire, as well as the extremists’ use of tunnels and suicide car bombs. The IS also using civilians as human shields, the Observatory said. On Monday, the Observatory said 13 IS militants, including five suicide attackers, were killed as well as six SDF fighters. The Kurdish Hawar news agency also reported heavy fighting Monday in Baghouz.
IS said in a statement posted late Sunday that two of its “martyrdom-seekers” attacked SDF fighters in Baghouz with their explosive-laden car.
Syrian state media claimed a Us-led coalition airstrike near Baghouz killed two women and two children. More than 20,000 civilians have left the Is-held area in recent weeks.
The United States is likely just weeks away from starting the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria ordered by President Donald Trump, the top US commander overseeing American forces in the Middle East has said. US Army General Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command, cautioned that the exact timing would depend on the situation in Syria. The US military has already started withdrawing equipment from Syria. Asked whether the withdrawal of America’s more than 2,000 troops would begin in days or weeks, Votel said: “Probably weeks. But again, it will all be driven by the situation on the ground.”
“In terms of the withdrawal ... I think we’re right on track with where we wanted to be,” Votel told reporters traveling with him during a trip to the Middle East.
“Moving people is easier than moving equipment and so what we’re trying to do right now is again (to) kind of clear out those materials, that equipment, that we do not need.”
Hundreds of additional troops have been sent to Syria to facilitate the withdrawal.