The Battle To Defeat The Last ISIS Enclave In Syria Continues

Surrendering families of ISIS militants in the village of Baghouz, Syria.PHOTO: REUTERS

Reuters: 'We don't see the enemy' concealed jihadists slow IS defeat

DEIR AL-ZOR PROVINCE, Syria (Reuters) - The young Syrian man crossing out of Islamic State’s last enclave in eastern Syria brought confirmation that the fight was still not over despite days of ferocious bombardment by U.S.-backed forces.

“There are people coming out and others not coming out,” said the bearded man wearing a robe and head scarf, one of hundreds of people who left the enclave at Baghouz on Thursday to surrender to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Asked if there were many people still inside, he said “yes” in the footage obtained by Reuters from the Kurdish TV station Ronahi. “I was injured in my back,” said the man, originally from the nearby city of Deir al-Zor.

On Friday suicide attackers struck a group of people leaving Baghouz and surrendering, the SDF said, the first such blasts to target any of the thousands of people abandoning the enclave.

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Update: Push to defeat ISIS in Syria slowed by concern for hostages (CTV News/AP)

WNU Editor: The last remaining ISIS fighters are now targeting their own .... Suicide attackers strike people quitting ISIS' last Syria zone (Straits Times/Reuters). This is going to take some time to finish. The Syrian-led Kurdish forces are now playing the waiting game, letting the lack of food and water in this ISIS enclave work for them. Because the end is near, I can understand why many coalition soldiers are reluctant to risk their life when the end is so near.

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