Civilians discovered in last ISIS-held enclave

AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria — The offensive on the last enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria has been blunted by the discovery of hundreds of civilians still living there, a commander with the Kurdish-led force fighting the extremists said Friday.

The U.S.-backed force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces launched the offensive to liberate the Islamic State-held village of Baghouz a week ago, after more than 20,000 civilians, many of them foreign wives of militants, were evacuated through a corridor from the area in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

In Washington, President Donald Trump said the White House will make an announcement about Syria and the fight against the Islamic State by today. He did not give details, but his comments contrasted with the picture painted by the Syrian Democratic Forces commanders, who said the battle has been progressing slowly.

“We have a lot of great announcements having to do with Syria and our success with the eradication of the caliphate and that will be announced over the next 24 hours,” Trump told journalists at the White House.

Adnan Afrin, the Kurdish commander, said that in the past three days Islamic State militants brought up hundreds of civilians from underground tunnels to make the Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S.led coalition aware of their presence.

He estimated that around 1,000 civilians, including women and children, are still in the area. He added that militants were hiding among them and using them as human shields.

“This was a surprise. We did not imagine there would be this number of civilians left,” Afrin said.

He said they were likely to be families of militants, but their discovery nonetheless has blunted the offensive. “We do not want to cause a massacre against civilians in the last [Islamic State] pocket,” he said.

A blitz of airstrikes and shelling last week was believed to signal the end of the campaign against the Islamic State in its last toehold in Syria. Thousands of people, including many foreign fighters and their families, emerged from the area amid ferocious fighting as the Syrian Democratic Forces closed in from three sides under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

Islamic State militants are now clinging to their last square mile of land in Baghouz. The anticipated declaration of victory against the group, however, has been delayed by this discovery of a large number of civilians in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, reported late Friday that a convoy of seven trucks, three ambulances and other vehicles including Humvees for the U.S.-led coalition headed toward the Islamic State-held area. The group said it believes that the aim is to draw out the remaining militant gunmen and their families.

“The convoy is likely to come back with at least 200 Islamic State group members of different nationalities,” the Observatory said, adding that it was not clear if they would agree to surrender. Hundreds of Islamic State fighters have surrendered over the past weeks and were apprehended by members of the U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces fighters.

Organized access to the front line has been restricted for journalists amid security concerns, particularly after the injury of an Italian photographer earlier this week.

U.S.-backed forces are now conducting precision operations targeting the militants’ outposts in and around the village of Baghouz and working to clear surrounding villages of remaining fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces officials said.

The Observatory said the Syrian Democratic Forces discovered late Thursday the bodies of 26 Islamic State gunmen who were killed in recent clashes near Baghouz.