ISIS zealots face final assault as coalition forces close in on desperate jihadists
- Thick black smoke rose over Baghouz as coalition forces closed in on IS fighters
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began the assault on Friday night after a pause
- IS fighters used booby- traps in last-ditch attempt to stop crushing of caliphate
Thick black smoke rose over the Syrian village of Baghouz yesterday as Western-backed forces advanced on two fronts in an attack they vowed would prove the final assault on Islamic State fighters.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began the assault on Friday night after a pause in fighting to allow thousands of civilians to flee.
Fighters were backed by helicopters and drones as they closed in on the terror group’s last bastion close to the Iraq border.
Desperate IS fighters, many of them foreigners, used booby- traps in a last-ditch attempt to stop the crushing of their self-declared caliphate.
Thick black smoke rose over the Syrian village of Baghouz as Western-backed forces closed in on Islamic State fighters
Mustafa Bali, an SDF spokesman, tweeted yesterday morning that heavy clashes were taking place as its forces advanced. ‘We expect it to be over soon,’ he said.
One SDF commander told The Mail on Sunday there were about 300 IS fighters – including some of its most hardened – still in the besieged area on the banks of the Euphrates river.
‘They are resisting very strongly,’ he said. ‘It is non-stop fighting. Daesh [IS] is using infrared homing devices and mortars. We are making progress but the battle is very fierce and we are not yet inside Baghouz.’
He said his forces held a strong position on a hill by the town, but IS fighters still occupied ‘six or seven’ key points and were relying on a network of ‘fighting tunnels’ burrowed beneath the battlefield.
The SDF fear that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have escaped through one of the tunnels to Iraq.
Yazidi children fleeing the last stronghold of Islamic State as coalition forces advance and attack
Local sources claimed Western special forces were using rapid-hardening foam to trap those hiding in caves and tunnels.
A spokesman for the coalition, which supports the Kurdish-led SDF, said it was too early to assess progress since ‘it is a complicated situation with many variables’.
The fall of IS has been expected for weeks, but jihadis slowed the assault by using their network of tunnels and forcing civilians to become human shields.
Many of the jihadis’ tents appeared flattened and destroyed. Those escaping the enclave said food and medical supplies had dwindled, with some relying on a diet of ‘IS bread’ – leaves baked with animal feed.
Others said they had to eat animal droppings and sticks to survive.
Fighters captured over recent days include jihadis from France, Spain, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan and Tunisia.
One 27-year-old Indonesian widow said she would have liked to have stayed but conditions were impossible. ‘I have no money, no food for my baby, no medicine, so I must go,’ she said.
Additional reporting: Ann Guenter