Baghuz is under siege by units of the SDF (“Syrian Democratic Forces”) – the alliance that has increasingly pushed back the jihadists in eastern Syria, with the support, primarily, of the US, the United Kingdom, and France.
Up to 1500 ISIS fighters are entrenched “down there” in Baghuz, as one SDF commander says.
“Down there” refers not only to the openly visible ISIS positions, but also to the multi-branched tunnel system that the ISIS fighters have installed. “It’s not just tunnels. We’re basically talking about a second city below the main city,” the SDF commander says.
This also explains where the huge numbers of people came from who fled Baghuz over the past few weeks and who surrendered to the SDF. On some days, their number exceeded 1000. On Monday, it was even 1600 people, including 300 ISIS fighters from various countries.
The SDF itself was surprised by these numbers. Even now, it is not clear how many people are still holding out in the last remaining ISIS bastion.
Contrary to some reports, there are allegedly still children among these people. The jihadists are probably planning to use them as human shields. Hence, there have been a limited number of air strikes. On the ground, the SDF fighters are slowly advancing.
“We come at night because then we have a tactical advantage,” the commander says. “Daytime belongs to ISIS. That’s when they attack with their snipers and rocket launchers.” He does not want to specify how much longer the operation will last. “It’ll probably be at least a number of days.”
