Embattled militants holding civilians, rival force says

AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria — Islamic State militants are preventing more than 1,000 civilians from leaving a tiny area still held by the extremist group in a village in eastern Syria, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian militia fighting the group said Sunday.

“Regrettably, Daesh have closed all the roads,” said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, referring to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym.

SDF officials have said the extremists are hiding among civilians and using a network of caves and tunnels. Islamic State, which once ruled over large areas of Syria and Iraq, is clinging to an area less than a square mile in the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria.

The extremists may include high-level commanders, and could be holding hostages among those trapped inside.

Occasional coalition air strikes and clashes continue inside the village of Baghouz. Artillery rounds were meant to clear land mines for the Syrian Democratic Forces fighters to advance. SDF commanders say the end of Islamic State’s selfdeclared caliphate is near.

But experts and U.S. defense officials warn that the group still poses a major threat and could regroup within months if pressure is not kept up.

Thousands of Islamic State fighters and their families have emerged from the last bastion held by the group in the past few months. Syrian Democratic Forces is holding around 1,000 foreign fighters in lockups and camps in northern Syria, and their fate is a major concern, particularly as American troops prepare to withdraw from Syria.

The Kurds want their home countries to take them back, and the U.S. has called on Europeans to repatriate and put them on trial. President Trump repeated that call in a tweet Saturday.

“The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial. The Caliphate is ready to fall,” Trump posted. He suggested the alternative would be that the U.S. would be forced to release them.

“We do so much, and spend so much — Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!” he added.

Bali, the SDF spokesman, declined to comment on Trump’s statement.