US-backed fighters squeezing IS gunmen in eastern Syria
BEIRUT (AP) - A U.S.-backed force in Syria is fighting the Islamic State group in a tiny area in Deir el-Zour province and the defeat of the extremists will soon be declared, a commander with the group said Saturday.
The capture of the last pocket of IS fighters in the village of Baghouz would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq, their so-called "caliphate" that at the height of the group's power in 2014 controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces declared the final push to end IS presence in eastern Syria last Friday and since then sporadic fighting has been ongoing with civilians coming out and scores of extremists surrendering.
Ciya Furat, a commander with the Kurdish-led SDF, said during a news conference in eastern Syria that his group will "very soon bring good news to the whole world." It was an apparent reference to an announcement about the defeat of the extremists in Syria.
President Donald Trump said the White House will make an announcement about Syria and the fight against IS by the end of Saturday.
"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 on Friday.
Furat's comments were carried by Kurdish news agencies, including Hawar News.
Furat said IS fighters are besieged in an area that is about 700 square meters (840 square yards) adding that the push is slow because the extremists are using civilians as human shields. He added that SDF fighters were able to liberate 10 of the fighters that were held by IS.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said SDF fighters are almost in full control of the area once controlled by extremists adding that there might still be IS fighters hiding in a network of underground tunnels.
"The defeat of Daesh will not last days," Furat said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He added that after the physical defeat of IS, the SDF "will continue in its fight against Daesh sleepers cells."
Despite the expected defeat on the ground, activists and residents say IS still has sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq and is laying the groundwork for an insurgency. The group has claimed responsibility in recent months for deadly attacks, mostly in Iraq, more than a year after the Iraqi government said the extremists have been defeated after losing the northern city of Mosul in 2017, the largest they held.