Landmines and tunnels are obstructing the US-backed rebels‘ offensive against the last bastion of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia in eastern Syria. The large number of mines and tunnels have so far made it impossible for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to take full control of the small IS retreat area, said the opposition-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in the UK yesterday.
Remaining jihadists continued sporadic attacks against SDF sites around the village of Baghus. The information, which relies on a network of informants in Syria, is difficult to independently verify.
„Final offensive“ on the weekend
„IS fighters refuse to surrender, and continue to defend themselves,“ said SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin the news agency AFP. Among other things, the jihadists had tried to kill SDF fighters from ambushes and explosives-laden motorcycles.
The US-backed SDF has been going after the last jihadists‘ retreats since September. At the weekend they launched the „final offensive“ against the last bastion in Syria. There, the jihadists have been pushed back in the past few days on an area of only one square kilometer. There are still a few hundred IS fighters stay.
Trump: End of the IS „caliphate“ will be announced soon
By mid-2014, ISIS had taken control of large parts of Syria and Iraq and proclaimed a „caliphate“. It corresponded at peak times in about the size of Britain. There they printed their own textbooks, produced oil, collected taxes and issued their own currency. In Iraq, the ISIS is now considered defeated.
It is expected that in the coming days the victory against the IS is officially announced. US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the US would announce the end of the „caliphate“ within the next 24 hours. However, there are fears that IS could build a global network underground.
