SDF clears explosives in Daesh area
baghouz (syria) — US-backed Syrian fighters on Sunday were clearing explosives in the last area retaken from the Daesh group a day after declaring military victory over the extremists and the end of their self-styled caliphate.
A spokesman for the Kurdishled Syrian Democratic Forces who goes by the nom de guerre Mervan the Brave said Baghouz, the village where the militants made their final stand, is “full of all kinds of explosives”.
He said SDF forces were clearing the area and have detonated land mines and suicide belts the militants left behind.
A Syrian driver working with NBC News reporters was killed on Saturday by an explosive device that went off in a house used as an SDF command post and a media centre for journalists covering the fighting in Baghouz.
Noah Oppenheim, the president of NBC News, said in a statement that network employees escaped unharmed. He expressed “deepest sympathies” to the driver’s family and loved ones.
The victory announced in Baghouz on Saturday marks the end of a devastating five-year campaign by an array of forces to retake territories held by Daesh in Syria and Iraq. Unknown numbers of fighters and supporters are believed to have gone underground. It’s not known whether the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, is still alive or where he might be hiding.
“This is an historic moment, but we cannot be complacent,” tweeted Maj-Gen Christopher Ghika, the deputy commander of the USled coalition against Daesh.
“Even without territory, Daesh will continue to pose a threat to the people of Iraq and Syria, as well as to the wider world. The coalition must remain firm in its determination to counter Daesh,” he said.