Kurds in final push against IS

US-BACKED and Kurdish-led Syrian forces said they had begun the final push to defeat the Islamic State (IS) group in the last pocket it holds in eastern Syria.

Syrian Democratic Forces spokesperson Mustafa Bali tweeted that the offensive began on Saturday after more than 20000 civilians were evacuated from the IS-held area in Deir el-Zour.

Bali said the aim of the push was to end the military presence of “Daesh” terrorists. He was using an Arabic acronym to refer to the extremists.

US President Donald Trump predicted last week that IS would have lost all the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria by this week.

The Kurdish-led SDF launched its offensive to end the IS presence in Syria in September, a battle that left hundreds of fighters dead on both sides. Syrian opposition activists said IS militants attacked US-backed fighters near an oil field, triggering airstrikes by the US-led coalition.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, said 12 IS gunmen attacked the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and clashed with them for several hours until most of the attackers were killed on Saturday.

Other activist collectives, including the Step news agency, reported the attack, saying motorcycles rigged with explosives were used.

The fighting was concentrated near al-Omar, Syria’s largest oil field.