Final push on Isis resumes Syria
United States-backed Syrian forces have resumed military operations to liberate the last piece of territory held by the Islamic State group in Syria, after evacuating thousands of civilians and hostages who had been besieged there.
Spokesman Mustafa Bali said fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had begun clashing with Isis militants and advancing after the last batch of civilians left the territory. ‘‘Those left inside are fighters who do not wish to surrender.’’
The military campaign to uproot the militants from the eastern banks of the Euphrates River began in September, pushing them down towards a last corner in the village of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border. The military operation was halted on February 12 after the SDF said a large number of civilians and hostages were holed up in the territory. Thousands were living in a tent encampment and houses along the riverside, as well as in caves and tunnels.
Over the past two weeks, thousands of civilians have been evacuated, many of them women and children in desperate conditions. The only aid group at the evacuation site, the Free Burma Rangers, estimated that at least 10,000 civilians had left the pocket since February 20, in trips organised by the SDF.
The evacuees, who included Isis family members, said food was running low and clean water and medicine were scarce. Despite its demise, many fighters defended what remained of the group’s territorial hold, which once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria.
As they trickled out, SDF and coalition officials screened them. Women and children were transferred to camps far away. Men suspected of links to the militant group were taken into custody at other facilities.
Officials estimate there are hundreds of militants left in the small patch of territory in Baghouz, and that they are likely to fight till the end.
Bali would not speculate on how long the military operation might take, but said he expected a ‘‘fierce battle’’ in a very small area that included a complex network of tunnels, as well as suicide bombers and land mines.
SDF commander Adnan Afrin said most of the remaining fighters were Europeans, Asians, Iraqi and Arabs from the area.
Yesterday, the smallest batch of evacuees, just over 200, came out of the pocket in trucks used to transport sheep. About 10 trucks sent to the perimeter of the Isis pocket came back empty, and drivers said no more evacuees came out after hours of waiting.
The evacuees included wounded men but were mostly women and children. There were Russians, Indonesians, Bosnians, Dagestani, Kazakhs, Egyptians, Syrians and Iraqis. They brough few belongings, distraught children and broken spirits.
In the past week alone, 13,000 people, most of them women and children, arrived at the al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province, which now houses approximately 45,000 people, according to the United Nations. ‘‘Many of the arrivals are exhausted, hungry and sick,’’ said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.