Isil fighters flee as Baghuz battle nears end

WESTERN-BACKED forces last night looked on the brink of defeating Isil in its final holdout in eastern Syria after seizing control of all but a tiny sliver of land on a river bank near Baghuz.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) made major gains yesterday after more than 150 “experienced” Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants became the latest to surrender.

Hundreds of fighters, most of them foreign, have abandoned the fight in recent days. The SDF had offered those left in the pocket a safe corridor through which to flee.

The sick and wounded among them were evacuated to nearby military hospitals for treatment, according to a spokesman for the SDF.

The advance brought a months-old operation to wipe out the last vestige of Isil’s once-sprawling “caliphate” closer to its inevitable outcome, but the SDF stopped short of declaring the battle over. The SDF continued to clash with a very small band of fighters – thought to be in the dozens – who were now cornered on the banks of the Euphrates.

An SDF statement said the forces yesterday managed to kill 24 fighters.

Videos released by Isil in recent days reveal the desperate situation for the jihadist group in Baghuz, showing children who looked to be no older than 12, and women – or possibly men in women’s clothing – fighting on the front line.