Fierce clashes took place Sunday on the eastern edge of Syria as US-backed troops battled to oust Isil fighters from the last square mile of the group’s once-sprawling so-called caliphate.
Four and a half years into what it calls Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led coalition against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is closing in on the end of the battle for territory once overrun by jihadists from all over the world.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led group acting as the lead coalition proxy on the ground, announced Saturday a final push to retake the last pocket of jihadists, following a week-long pause in fighting.
The SDF told the Telegraph their forces had been forced to halt as Isil was using civilians as human shields. However, the reported reason was to allow for negotiations between the SDF and Isil, which had been seeking safe passage to other desert areas of Syria in return for the release of dozens of SDF fighters captured in battle several months ago.
Talks collapsed on Friday and on Saturday Isil released a video of the execution of two Arab members of the SDF and ordered sleeper cells across eastern Syria to attack the forces.
The SDF, backed by coalition air power including UK support, has mowed through Isil’s former territory, moving south through Deir Ezzor province to a one square mile wedge of territory bordered by the Iraqi border to the east and the Euphrates river to the west.
The SDF pushed towards the village of Baghuz on Sunday, backed by coalition airstrikes and artillery fire. Up to 600 jihadists could remain inside the area, including many foreign fighters, said Mustafa Bali, SDF spokesman.
"Our forces are relying on direct combat with light weapons," Mr Bali said. He added that his men had captured 41 jihadist positions before the day’s end.
On the Iraqi side of the border, French troops were poised to attack, lest any jihadists try to escape across the border they once bulldozed through with ease.
Coalition deputy commander Christopher Ghika last week said Iraqi forces had sealed their border with Syria.
Since September, when the SDF moved into the third phase of what military planners call Operation Roundup, more than 1,270 Isil militants, more than 670 SDF fighters, and around 400 civilians have been killed in the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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But even as the physical ground held by the jihadists shrinks, the terror group maintains a network of cells and supporters that spans the globe. The presence of hundreds of foreign fighters and their wives and children raises difficult questions about the group’s legacy and the willingness of other countries to tackle it head-on.
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