ISIS battling fiercely for last bit of Syria turf

BAGHDAD — A year after it was routed from Iraq in a war that left entire neighborhoods and towns in ruins, the Islamic State group is fighting to hang on to its last enclave in eastern Syria, engaging in deadly battles with U.S.backed forces.

Cornered in the desert near the Iraqi border with nowhere to run, the militants are putting up a fierce fight, inflicting hundreds of casualties among their opponents and releasing a stream of beheading videos reminiscent of the extremist group’s terrifying propaganda at the height of its power.

In Syria, the battle for the area of Hajin has dragged on for three months, highlighting the difficulty of eradicating an extremist group determined to survive. Across the border, in Iraq, there is rising concern that the group may stage a comeback. Islamic State sleeper cells have recently attacked security forces and abducted and killed civilians, mostly in four northern and central provinces that were once part of the group’s self-declared caliphate.

“There is still major danger for Iraq and Syria, especially in areas close to the border when it comes to Daesh,” a senior Iraqi intelligence official said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the extremists. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about security matters.

He said the Islamic State group lost most of the income it once made from oil and taxes imposed in areas it controlled. The group now relies on selling gold and other reserves that it had accumulated after declaring its caliphate in June 2014. The official said the money is being used to buy weapons and finance attacks in Iraq and Syria.

The Islamic State group once held an area the size of Britain across vast territories straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, running a so-called caliphate and planning international attacks from its headquarters in the Syrian city of Raqqa. Tens of thousands were killed in both countries as an array of local forces, some backed by a U.S.-led coalition, eventually drove the extremists out of virtually all the lands they once held.

The area that the Islamic State group still holds in Syria represents less than 1 percent of the territory it controlled at its height. The pocket is home to some 15,000 people, including Islamic State fighters and their families. The U.S. military estimates there are about 2,000 remaining Islamic State fighters there.

The Syrian Democratic Forces opened an offensive to retake Hajin on Sept. 10. It has been a grueling campaign, with sandstorms and fog at times grounding coalition aircraft, allowing the militants to open counteroffensives that have killed hundreds of Syrian Democratic Forces fighters. The Islamic State group also has taken scores of prisoners and hundreds of civilians hostage.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says since the fighting began nearly three months ago, 1,616 people have been killed, mostly fighters from both sides. It said the dead include 827 Islamic State gunmen, 481 Syrian Democratic Forces fighters and 308 civilians.

Nuri Mehmud, a Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman speaking by telephone from Syria, said all of the Islamic State group’s experienced fighters are now in the besieged area of Hajin.

“It is a difficult battle but in the end we will wipe out Daesh,” he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Sinan Salaheddin of The Associated Press.