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Isis defeated, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announce Isis defeated, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announce
(32 minutes later)
US-backed forces in Syria have announced the liberation of the last area held by Islamic State in the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz, declaring victory over the extremist group and the end of its self-declared Islamic caliphate. After almost five years, the battle to dismantle Islamic State’s brutal “caliphate” has ended with an announcement from US-backed forces that the militants have been driven out of their last stronghold of Baghuz, deep in the Syrian desert.
“Baghuz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved,” tweeted Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, referring to the group by its Arabic acronym. The militants had held out for months against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the small oasis town on the Euphrates river, clinging on to an area of land less than 700 square metres wide despite fierce coalition bombing. But on Saturday an SDF spokesman, Mustafa Bali, tweeted that the town had been liberated.
Elimination of the last Isis stronghold in Baghuz marks the end of the militants’ self-declared caliphate, which at its height blanketed large parts of Syria and Iraq. The campaign to take back the territory by the US and its partners has spanned five years and two US presidencies, unleashed more than 100,000 bombs and killed untold numbers of fighters and civilians. “On this unique day we commemorate thousands of martyrs whose efforts made the victory possible,” he wrote.
The elimination of the caliphate is a significant symbolic victory against Isis, which at the height of its power held more than 8 million people hostage to its bloody interpretation of Islamic law in a swath of territory across Syria and Iraq that was roughly the size of the UK.
Foreign nationals suspected of Isis links 'not wanted' in Syrian campsForeign nationals suspected of Isis links 'not wanted' in Syrian camps
But the weekend announcement, in a tweet, was anti-climactic, and on the ground sporadic gunfire continued. A day earlier President Donald Trump had declared Islamic State militants no longer controlled any territory in Syria. At least 6,000 Kurdish and 2,000 Arab SDF fighters have died in the four-year military campaign against the group in Syria. Thousands more troops died across the border in Iraq, and monitors say the civilian death toll in both countries is far higher than official estimates.
Associated Press journalists in Baghuz on Saturday reported hearing mortars and gunfire directed toward a cliff overlooking Baghuz, where US-led coalition airstrikes were carried out a day earlier. SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel said on Friday that there were still Isis fighters hiding in caves near Baghuz and clearing operations were still under way. Car, motorbike and even bicycle suicide bombs slowed the SDF’s advance in Baghuz to a crawl as women and children – mostly the families of fighters – poured out of the town in staggering numbers, defiantly shouting Isis slogans and threatening reporters.
At its height the Islamic State group ruled a third of both Syria and Iraq, holding millions of people hostage to its harsh and violent interpretation of Islamic law. The group carried out large-scale massacres and documented them with videos circulated online. During a rampage through Iraq’s Sinjar region in 2014 it captured thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority and forced them into sexual slavery. Many are still missing. Coalition intelligence had estimated Baghuz’s population to be 5,000 people at the beginning of the operation in December, but 62,000 women and children have since arrived at displacement camps, overwhelming the local authorities.
The group also used its caliphate as a launchpad for attacks around the globe, including the assaults in Paris in 2015 that killed more than 130 people. The announcement of victory in Baghuz was somewhat undercut by reports of sporadic gunfire and shelling on Saturday near cliffs on the town’s eastern edge. On Friday another SDF spokesperson, Kino Gabriel, had said clearing operations to drive out fighters hiding in caves were still under way. Airstrikes pounded the area overnight.
While it imposed an unforgiving version of Islamic law through public beheadings and crucifixions, the group also attempted the mundane duties of governance in its territories, including regulating prices at markets and building infrastructure. The SDF, who have been preparing for a victory announcement for weeks – even building a stage at the operation’s base – were robbed of a more climatic victory moment when the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, told reporters on Friday that the acting defence secretary, Patrick Shanahan, had briefed Donald Trump that Isis had been completely territorially defeated.
Isis no longer controls any territory in Syria or Iraq but continues to carry out insurgent attacks in both countries. It maintains affiliates in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and elsewhere. SDF soldiers and international coalition commanders celebrated the the collapse of the caliphate on Saturday but they remain under no illusions that Isis remains a serious threat in a country still mired in an intractable civil war.
The militants have already carried out dozens of sleeper cell attacks in recently liberated towns and villages along the length of the Euphrates river corridor as well as in their former capital Raqqa.
Since the Baghdad government declared Isis’s defeat in Iraq in 2017, the group has carried out more than 1,000 attacks. The global jihadist project is still also a potent force in the Philippines, Afghanistan and parts of Africa.
Islamic StateIslamic State
SyriaSyria
KurdsKurds
US foreign policyUS foreign policy
Middle East and North Africa
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