IS relatives leave as fighting nears end
NEAR BAGHOUZ: Dozens of relatives of foreign fighters including Iraqis, Turks and Russians fled Islamic State’s last bastion in eastern Syria yesterday as the jihadists lost ground to USbacked forces.
A field commander with the Kurdishled forces, which are pushing further into the besieged pocket, said mostly foreign militants were making their last stand.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which holds about a quarter of the country, has mounted an attack to seize the enclave with the help of US air strikes. Many hundreds of civilians have streamed out in the past two days alone.
The SDF made ‘‘slow and methodical’’ progress in the battle near the Iraqi border, according to the USled coalition backing it.
Jets roared in the sky and the sound of an explosion rang out from Baghouz, the last village in the area partly in IS hands, a Reuters witness said.
About 300 civilians who fled yesterday were transferred in trucks to a camp in the northeast. They appeared exhausted or hungry, and some of the children were barefoot.
Several people identified themselves as Iraqi, Turkish, Ukranian or Russian.
At the edge of Baghouz, civilians who had escaped stood in line for questioning by US and SDF forces who were trying to find wanted militants.
The SDF believes 400 to 600 militants remain holed up in the enclave, including many hardened foreigners and some emirs. Its spokesman said last month most of the civilians still there were the wives and children of the militants.
‘‘We are seeing fierce resistance from the Daesh fighters,’’ SDF field commander Adnan Afrin said on the outskirts of Baghouz.
He said the jihadists held only 1sq km of the village. — Reuters