Hundreds trapped by IS blockade
Diehard jihadists have blocked roads out of the last scrap of their Islamic State group “caliphate” in Syria, US-backed forces fighting them said on Sunday, preventing hundreds of civilians from fleeing.
Ahead of a victory declaration expected within days and a US military pullout, US President Donald Trump called on his European allies to take back hundreds of alleged jihadists captured in Syria.
The jihadists declared a “caliphate” across large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, implementing their brutal interpretation of Islam on millions.
But several offensives have expelled them from all of it, except a patch of less than 500m² on the banks of the Euphrates river near the Iraqi border.
Thousands of people have streamed out of the so-called “Baghouz pocket” recently, but hundreds of civilians, including IS family members, are still believed to be inside.
At a collection point for new arrivals outside Baghouz on Sunday, dozens of tents and a few trucks sat empty.
A few days earlier, the area had been full of people – women and children, but also suspected jihadists led to one side.
“It’s been two days since anyone came out,” a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter said.
SDF spokesperson Mustefa Bali said IS had blocked roads out of its holdout, preventing those remaining from escaping to safety.
“Daesh has sealed off all the streets” but up to 2,000 civilians could still be inside, he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
The jihadists are confined to “a few hundred metres square in . . . Baghouz with a number of civilians they hold hostage and refuse to release”, he said.
A spokesperson for the USled coalition, which has been backing the SDF with air power and some troops, said IS was using these women and children as “human shields”.
“Civilians who have escaped are reporting IS is using them as human shields and killing innocent civilians in order to intimidate others from trying to leave,” Sean Ryan said.
The Kurdish-led SDF launched the offensive to expel IS from the eastern banks of the Euphrates in September.
Trump on Friday promised announcements linked to “the eradication of the caliphate” within 24 hours, but a top SDF commander warned the battle would take a few more days.
The US president in December shocked allies when he announced he would withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syria because IS had been “beaten”.
That plan is set to be accelerated after a victory announcement. Since 2015, the SDF have been battling IS with backing from the international coalition, retaking one major town after another until reaching Baghouz.
They have detained hundreds of foreigners accused of fighting for IS and repeatedly called on their countries to repatriate them, but Western nations have been reluctant.
Trump on Sunday called on his European allies to bring their nationals home.
“The caliphate is ready to fall,” he said on Twitter.
“The US is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 IS fighters captured in Syria and put them on trial.
“The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them,” he said.
“The US does not want to watch as these IS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go.”
Beyond Baghouz, IS still has thousands of fighters and sleeper cells scattered across several countries.
In Syria, it retains a presence in the vast Badia desert, and has claimed deadly attacks in SDF-held territory.
The US department of defence has warned that without sustained counterterrorism pressure, IS could resurge within months.
“Over the past month, more than one foreign sleeper cell was arrested in multiple areas in Syria,” Badi said.
Eight years into the conflict that has killed more than 360,000 people, President Bashar al-Assad’s government controls nearly two-thirds of the country. But the SDF hold about a third of the country still beyond its control. –