ISIS Camp In Baghouz Is Captured As U.S. Allies Declare Progress In Syria

March 19, 2019 8:55 AM ET
BILL CHAPPELL

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are now in control of an ISIS encampment in Baghouz after weeks of operations and attacks on the village. But isolated gun battles are continuing in the area, seen as ISIS' last remaining redoubt.

"This is not a victory announcement, but a significant progress in the fight against Daesh," said Mustafa Bali, the head of the SDF press office. In a tweet, he added, "Clashes are continuing as a group of ISIS terrorists who are confined into a tiny area still fight back."

The last holdouts of ISIS have been largely confined to Baghuoz since last month. The Kurdish-led SDF launched a new offensive on March 10 after slowing its push to allow civilians to flee — and to let thousands of ISIS fighters and their families surrender.

In the final push to control Baghouz, the SDF blew up an ammunition storage area and slowly pried positions away from ISIS. On Tuesday, the SDF captured hundreds of sick or injured ISIS militants and sent them to nearby hospitals, Bali said.

"This is the slow unraveling of Baghouz, the last ISIS holdout, whose capture will mark the end of the group's territory, which once spanned hundreds of miles across Iraq and Syria," NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports for our Newscast unit. ...

-snip-