US-Backed Assault Targets Last ISIS Enclave Eastern Syria

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Mar. 12 (SEE) -  ISIS's final enclave in eastern Syria was pounded with air strikes and artillery on Monday in a U.S.-backed assault, Reuters reported.

The assualt aimed at wiping out the last shred of ISIS territorial rule that once spanned a third of Syria and Iraq.

Fires raged after dark in the enclave at Baghouz near the Iraqi border as it was targeted with rockets and thick plumes of smoke rose from the area, Reuters TV footage showed. Heavy gunfire could be heard and flares lit up the night sky.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said earlier its fighters were encountering sniper fire and landmines and advancing slowly to avoid losses. The most hardened IS foreign fighters are still holed up in the area, the SDF has said.

Air strikes destroyed IS stores and vehicles, the SDF said.

The defeat of Islamic State at Baghouz will mark a milestone in the campaign against the extremists group, ending its control of populated territory in the area straddling Iraq and Syria where it suddenly expanded in 2014 and declared a caliphate.

However, the group still operates in remote territory elsewhere and has shown it will continue to mount a potent security threat, with a string of insurgent attacks in both countries.

Pro-Syrian government forces hold the opposite bank of the Euphrates across from Baghouz and Iraqi militias are stationed at the border, cutting off any easy escape route for the militants.