Kurdish-led forces ready for push on last IS pocket

Four years ago, IS-controlled territory the size of Britain, administered millions of people


Afp February 09, 2019
Illustrative image of Turkish soldiers standing guard near the Turkish-Syrian border, on September 4, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria prepared Friday for a push on the last remaining speck of the Islamic State group's "caliphate" where terrorists and their families are holed up.

US President Donald Trump predicted that the once-sprawling proto-state's official death could be proclaimed as early as next week but operations have been paused for days on the main front line.

Four years ago, IS-controlled territory the size of Britain and administered millions of people, but the US coalition fighting the group said 99.5 percent of it has been clawed back in successive offensives.

Its deputy commander, Major General Christopher Ghika, described the size of the last IS pocket as "now less than one percent of the original caliphate."

Turkey bolsters troops in Kurdish areas of northern Syria: war monitor

The coalition has been training and providing air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which launched an offensive on the last pocket of territory controlled by terrorists in September 2018.

Two months later, they took Hajin, which was the last town of note under IS control and left the terrorists fighting over a few scattered hamlets in the Euphrates Valley. Thousands of suspected IS fighters have attempted to blend in with civilians fleeing the terrorists' last bastion, including a large number of foreigners.

"They are attempting to escape through intermixing with the innocent women and children attempting to flee the fighting," Ghika said on Thursday. The SDF have set up screening centres to process the droves of haggard people streaming out of IS-held territory, often famished and covered in dust.

Turkey, Iran vow to work closer on Syria after US pullout announcement

British, French, US and other forces are actively looking for wanted IS operatives among those fleeing the combat zone with civilians.
After weeks of advancing steadily, the SDF halted their ground assault on IS's tiny remaining enclave.

"There hasn't been any big advance or change on our side over the past five days," an SDF spokesman told AFP on Friday. "Currently, the SDF is advancing very cautiously to ensure the safety of civilians that IS is using as human shields."

The Kurds, who have de facto autonomy in northeastern Syria, are also engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomatic talks over the fate of the region. Trump said in December that he had ordered a complete troop withdrawal from Syria, a shock announcement that left the Kurds scrambling for new allies.

"We are seeking a political solution in Syria, which requires an agreement with the government in Damascus. We have chosen a political agreement with Damascus because we don't want secession from Syria," senior Kurdish official Badran Jia Kurdi told AFP.

Speaking at the State Department on Wednesday, Trump said that US-led troops and their Kurdish allies should formally announce the end of the "caliphate" some time next week.

"Remnants -- that's all they have, remnants -- but remnants can be very dangerous," Trump said. While IS will soon no longer have fixed positions anywhere in Iraq or Syria, its surviving fighters have reverted to guerrilla warfare and remain a potent force.

The terrorists maintain sleeper cells along the border with Iraq, as well as in cities they once ruled, and have carried out periodic hit-and-run attacks. The SDF arrested 63 suspected militants in IS's former Syrian capital Raqa on Thursday during an operation against sleeper cells, it said in a statement.

At least 48 suspected IS members were among them, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory says IS sleeper cells are suspected of assassinating at least 50 civilians and 135 SDF fighters in Kurdish-held territory since August.

More than 37,000 people, mostly wives and children of terrorist fighters, have fled IS territory since the SDF, backed by the US-led coalition, intensified its offensive in December, according to the Observatory.

Erdogan, Trump agreed to avoid power vacuum in Syria: Turkish presidency

The Britain-based war monitor has said that the figure includes some 3,200 suspected terrorists. Kurdish authorities say they have in their custody hundreds of foreign male IS members.

Suspected terrorists captured by the SDF are usually eager to be sent home, something the Kurdish administration also wants.
Governments in the terrorists' countries of origin are often reluctant, although France -- which has one of the largest contingents -- recently said it would consider limited repatriations.
Human Rights Watch has warned that any transfers of suspected foreign terrorists and their relatives out of Syria should be transparent.
"As we speak, there may already be transfers happening. There's been a total lack of transparency, and bad things happen in the dark," HRW's counterterrorism director, Nadim Houry, told AFP.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ