Less than 1,000 Daesh fighters remain in Iraq, Syria: Coalition

baghdad — Fewer than 1,000 Daesh fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, the United States-led international coalition fighting the hardline militant group said on Wednesday, a third of the estimated figure only three weeks ago.

Iraq and Syria have both declared victory over Daesh in recent weeks, after a year that saw the two countries’ armies, a range of foreign allies and various local forces drive the fighters out of all the towns and villages that once made up their self-proclaimed caliphate.

The United States has led an international coalition conducting air strikes against Daesh since 2014 when the group swept across a third of Iraq. US troops have served as advisers on the ground with Iraqi government forces and with Kurdish

We can tell you that we are working with our partners to kill or capture all remaining daesh terrorists, to destroy their network and prevent their resurgence

US-led coalition

and Arab groups in Syria.

“Due to the commitment of the Coalition and the demonstrated competence of our partners in Iraq and Syria, there are estimated to be less than 1,000 Daesh terrorists in our combined joint area of operations, most of whom are being hunted down in the desert regions in eastern Syria and Western Iraq,” the US-led coalition said in an emailed statement. The figure excludes areas in western Syria under the control of President Bashar Al Assad’s government and his allies.

Most of the fighters had been killed or captured over the past three years, the coalition said on Wednesday. It would not respond to a question on whether some fighters could have escaped to other countries, saying it would not “engage in public speculation” but said it was working on preventing that.

“We can tell you that we are working with our partners to kill or capture all remaining Daesh terrorists, to destroy their network and prevent their resurgence, and also to prevent them from escaping to bordering countries,” it said. — Reuters